The King's Servant
by JordiiPordiiPuddinPie
Summary: Haruka had been travelling the desert for a month when he was pointed northward by a mysterious stranger at sunset. Haruka followed the stranger's advice and not only did he find all the water he could ever want, but also a new home for himself, new friends, and a dark, wicked romance. AU. Discontinued.
1. A Ghost at Sunset

Hey! if you've read my other new fic, _"Hours Passing Like Minutes," _you might have taken notice of the fact that I briefly stated I was going to start another Sharkbait fic. Well, I am, and here's boring set-up chapter number one. I liked writing this, but I felt very nervous and anxious as I was, so please read the note at the bottom of this when you're done reading just so that you can understand... how I'm currently feeling towards this, I guess? Yeah. That. Anyway, enjoy reading!

**Summary: **Haruka had been travelling for just under a month when he was pointed northward by a mysterious stranger at sunset. "Go north," The stranger had said, "you'll find a seemingly endless amount of water there." Haruka followed the stranger's advice and not only did he find all the water he could ever want, but also a new home for himself, new friends, and a dark, wicked romance.

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything! Not _Free! Iwatobi Swim Club _or it's characters!**

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**[CHAPTER ONE: "A GHOST AT SUNSET."]**

_Heat. Sun. Wind. Sand._

This was all Haruka could register as he walked along, having to drag his feet out of the deep sand with each and every step to continue to advance forward. The sun was beating down on the young man — had been for weeks now — and he inwardly found himself wondering just how many days it had been since he had left home. When he'd first set out, he'd made it a point to keep track of the days, but had slowly lost the willpower to do so. Now the number of days was lost to him and he could only make guesses to help himself find it again.

_Twenty-three... Twenty-five..._ The male counted as he walked, his baggy pants making a soft swishing sound as the inside of his thighs brushed against each other with every step. Had the number of days perhaps hit twenty-eight already without him knowing? Was the week count four?

_No, not that long ago,_ Haruka shook the possibility off the tip of his mind, so to speak, wincing and squinting his eyes as a harsh wind, like many others he'd endured so far, swept across the landscape. The breeze kicked up sand into his eyes and Haruka hissed, stopping to rub them.

As soon as he let go of the rope that he'd been using to pull his camel along, his large, humped companion dropped down, scattering more sand as it hit the desert floor. Good thing Haruka was still rubbing his eyes; still had them covered. He heard the loud noise the camel made as it collapsed and knew — had known for about an hour now — that the animal was exhausted. He felt bad, really, but he had to push them both forward. If he didn't, they'd never make it to the next town and would very easily die out in the middle of the desert, be reduced down to nothing more than food for the buzzards. Haruka didn't want that, for either of them.

Finally, once he deemed it safe, Haruka dropped his hands from his eyes and looked to his furry companion. Underneath the cloth he wore around his face to help shield it from the sun, the black-haired boy gave a small, sympathetic smile and bent down beside the camel.

"We'll rest for a minute, Baa-chan," Haruka said quietly, reaching out and rubbing the animal's side. The camel made a soft grunting noise, butting her head against Haru's hand. It wasn't really all that normal, but this camel, he had noticed, liked to be rubbed on the head. A reason as to why was beyond him.

Sighing, Haruka followed through on his promise and turned away from Baa-chan. He plopped his bottom down into the sand, carefully leaning back just a bit to rest against the animal. The young man shut his eyes, his hands coming up and pulling the cloth around his face tighter and the medium-sized garment he wore for protection around his shoulders down some to help shield his torso as he rested.

He'd never planned to go to sleep. Not long after stopping to break, however, he felt it's familiar haziness, felt his body relaxing. Haruka had a strict _"No sleeping between towns."_ rule for himself, one he'd obeyed very loyally until now, but as sleep crept up onto him, he hardly found himself resisting it. That was when it came to him.

_Twenty-six._ The number flew at him like a bat out of hell as he was drawn into unconsciousness by slumber's fine caress, his head tilting to the side against Baa-chan and his breathing slowing down. _My birthday was twenty-six days ago..._ He reminded himself just as he was overtaken by sleep and it's strong forces, officially clonking out. That was when he'd had to leave; no, that was when he had _chosen_ to get out and find his place in the world. Or at least... That's what he told himself.

Haruka woke up hours later to the sound of heavy laughter and rummaging, as well as Baa-chan sitting up, alert, and beginning to cry out. The young man's eyes opened slowly, squinting out of habit at first, but he soon found there was hardly anything to squint at. The sun was setting, painting the sky a variety of different, beautiful colors and taking it's brightness with it.

And inviting thieves to prey on him, who they considered an unsuspecting victim.

Haruka sat up with a start as he felt something brush his arm, becoming fully awake and alert as his head whipped to the side. Upon doing this, he came face-to-hip with a gruff looking old man who stank of alcohol and reeked of body odor. The male scrunched up his face, wrinkling his nose before getting his game face on. Haruka leaned to the side, away from the male, and raised his right leg. The bottom of his shoe made a good impact as he kicked the man away from Baa-chan and his supplies.

Watching the man stumble off to the side, Haruka quickly stood, facing him. His right hand began to reach across his pelvis, moving for the dagger located in a strap situated against his left hip. He reached up, removing the cloth from around his face, from overtop of his mouth. He wanted to make sure the man could hear him; he wasn't just whispering comfortingly to Baa-chan now.

"You— who are you?" Haruka asked, hand resting on the hilt of his dagger, ready to draw the weapon if needed. His voice caught the man's attention, who appeared to have been looking around aimlessly, wondering what the hell had just happened. The bearded man slowly turned to look at him.

It was then, taking in the older gentleman's roughed up and messy appearance, the way he held himself in a slumped over sort of fashion, that Haruka realized he was drunk. _That'd also explain the stench of alcohol,_ The blue-eyed beauty thought, removing his hand from his dagger. He wouldn't need his weapon; he could very easily fight off a drunkard, should the man get violent. A weapon was needed to fight off bandits, not drunk, elderly men.

"A-Ah," The old man stuttered, looking nervous as he fiddled with a decently-sized shred of cloth hanging from his shirt, once a part of the garment. "I-I wasn't stealing from you," The man promised, causing Haruka to scowl. He hated when people lied, especially to his face. He didn't question the old man or point out his fib, however, and instead sighed. Taking a step towards his companion, causing the old man to jerk and take a small step, as if ready to run away, Haruka reached inside a bag located on Baa-chan's side. He pulled out an apple and the old man's face seemed to light up.

"Ah! A-An apple," The older man said, smiling as he looked at the fruit like he'd never seen one before, or perhaps just hadn't in a very long time. Haruka nodded, rubbing the piece of fruit against his pants, before tossing it to the old man. The elderly man caught the red orb clumsily, almost dropping it into the desert sand. Haruka was glad he didn't; these apples had been very hard to come by.

"T-Thank you," The old man stuttered again, leaving Haruka to wonder if he wasn't just anxious, but instead had a speech impediment. The old man watched as Haruka reached back into the purple bag he'd pulled the first apple from, pulling out a second for himself. "C-Can I sit with you?" He asked, smiling as Haruka nodded. The two sat down beside Baa-chan, who'd been strangely quiet and frigid during the whole incident, and the old man gave a content sigh as he bit into his apple, chewing with the few teeth he had left.

"Ah, this is good!" The man exclaimed, smiling. He took another bite before he had even finished chewing the first, managing to grin from ear-to-ear as he ate. Haruka watched him in silence, taking out his dagger and skillfully and with practiced accuracy began to peel his.

_Just like Baa-chan used to,_ The young man commented to himself, stealing a glance back at the camel he'd oh so nostalgically named after his late grandmother before turning back to his work. Once he'd successfully peeled the apple, Haruka cut the piece of fruit into two before putting his weapon and part-time food utensil away. He offered one half of the apple to Baa-chan, who took it happily, and then bit into the other half, chewing. The old man watched the younger all the while, smiling.

They sat in silence for quite a while. Neither seemed to have a lot to say to the other; they were just two strangers sitting down together to snack after one had tried to rob the other. That was all. Totally normal.

_Right,_ Haruka thought sarcastically to himself, taking his last bite of his slice of apple before throwing the stem — which he'd made it a point not to give to Baa-chan, she didn't need it — away into the sand. Then he stood.

"So," The old man finally decided to strike up a conversation just as Haruka stood to continue on his journey, beckoning Baa-chan to rise with him. "Where you headed, stranger?" The old man asked. Haruka took note that he was no longer stuttering; okay, so maybe it wasn't a speech impediment, after all.

"Wherever the next town is; that's my destination," Haruka answered the old man, turning towards Baa-chan and beginning to fasten some of the things she was carrying for him, making sure the supplies were all strapped in tight and set in place. The old man nodded and stood, arching his back. Haruka heard a few chilling pops from the old man's bones.

"If you keep heading the way you were going, you'll run into a small village just like all the others you may have seen so far." The old man watched Haruka intensely; the young man could feel his eyes boring into his back. For a moment, he felt like shivering.

"And if you turn a bit and go north, you'll find the same sort of place waitin' for ya," The old man continued with a nod, "but there's a catch!" He persisted, causing Haruka to turn back towards him, pausing in his actions due to curiosity. "Catch?" The young man repeated. The old man nodded, smiling.

"If you go this way," He pointed to his right, somewhere far off in the distance, "the town you will stumble upon is surrounded by a large gate and is home to a towering, magnificent palace!" The old man exclaimed, causing Haruka to frown. The black-haired male turned back towards his camel, having lost interest. He didn't care about big palaces or gated communities; those things did not interest him. And the old man took note of this. He readjusted himself, eyes still on Haruka, then grinned, trying again; continuing on as if he knew what would strike Haruka's fancy.

"And in this palace, they say there's a magnificent waterway. It runs all throughout the royal palace— the royal family lives there." The old man paused, smiling, watching as Haruka's hand seemed to stop for a moment, resting against Baa-chan. The camel grunted and the old man continued.

"The water all starts at one small point, but it's pathways branch off and can be seen tunneling water no matter where you are in the palace. Then, on the opposite end of the palace, all the water comes back together again into a large body of water, where the royals spend their free time and have big celebrations. They also say that, beyond the palace, there's even an osasis waiting for anyone who is not of the royal family to indulge in."

_That sounds nice,_ Haruka couldn't help but to think, back to fastening everything on Baa-chan to the point where it'd stay on. _North,_ he thought, nodding to himself just as the old man asked, in a breathy voice just in his ear, "Interested yet?"

At the sound, so up-close and personal in his ear, Haruka's breath hitched and the young man whirled around, about ready to push the old man away or tell him to back off.

But there was no one there.

Haruka blinked, a deep frown settling into his face just briefly before he looked to Baa-chan. "You saw him, too, right?" He asked the camel, who grunted in response. He took that as a yes and looked back to where he could have sworn the old man had been standing all this time. _A ghost?_

A shiver racked through Haruka's body and the young man squeezed his eyes shut briefly before opening them again. Slowly, he moved back to Baa-chan, reaching into a small, red bag and pulling out a compass.

_North,_ the old man had said, whether he'd been a ghost or not. Haruka glanced down at the small device. _I've been going west,_ He noted, looking off to the side, towards north.

_"They say there's a magnificent waterway. It runs all throughout the royal palace."_ The old man's words ran through Haruka's head repeatedly as he tried to imagine this palace and it's waterway. He felt himself beginning to get anxious. He loved water; always had, always would. There'd been a small oasis where he was from, but over the years it'd dried up as the periods of drought got worse and worse, longer and longer.

_I wonder if there really is a great body of water there,_ Haruka wondered to himself, getting genuinely excited and curious at the thought, his cheeks flushing slightly. _It'd be great to swim in water again._ He thought.

None of the places he'd come across had had any sort of oasis or large source of water; there'd been no place for him to see if swimming now would be the same as it had been back when he was a child. Then it had been wonderful, fun, exhilirating. It made him feel joyful and at peace all at once. Haruka longed to feel like that again; longed to feel water's smooth caress all over his body, gliding against him. The heavens knew he needed a way to let go of all the stress he'd built up since leaving home; if swimming turned out to be the same now as it had been as a child, this place could actually be a good source of relaxation for him.

_I'll go north,_ The young man decided, turning his eyes back towards north before putting the compass away, taking hold of the rope he used to guide Baa-chan along and beginning to go north, changing directions.

_I will feel that sensation — those feelings — again._

**[CHAPTER ONE: "A GHOST AT SUNSET." END]**

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Ahhhh, okay, so it wasn't horrible, right? Sorry it was really just a chill first chapter, but I'd already had a time gap when I stopped to look the chapter over. I didn't want some time to have passed _and _for Haruka to have made it to the town. You know? Also — and here's what I'm so afraid will throw some people off of liking this fic — I'll warn you all now that _Haru _is the main character of this and even though there's going to be a lot of Sharkbait, Rin... isn't coming in for a few more chapters. I would honestly say two more chapters, at the earliest. Yeah, see— I bet a lot of you just said, _"Oh, forget this, then." _Yeah, well... I want this to be realistic, and Haru meeting Rin _super early on, first and foremost... _would not be realistic. So yeah.

I have a certain pattern I want this story to follow and I hope most of you will be able to accept that and will still read and follow and review and all this stuff... even if Sharkbait is on the backburner for right now. I hope you guys will all still like this story and follow it, because I'm so scared that most of you are going to not take interest in it because of it's slow pacing. I just... yeah. PuddinPie out.


	2. Arrested in Firdous

Hey, guys! So here's the second chapter. Sorry that this is going up _super _late — well, in my timezone. It wasn't as easy to write as the first had been.

**Summary: —**

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Free! Iwatobi Swim Club. _Thanks for reminding me.**

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**[CHAPTER TWO: "ARRESTED IN FIRDOUS."]**

_"Welcome to Firdous:_  
_City of Enchantment and Home to the Royal Family"_

Haruka allowed his eyes to wander over the weathered down sign situated just outside the large, breathtaking wall that had been mentioned to him the evening prior. The letters had a gold tint to them, but the wood appeared to be rotting; it was clear that the sign had been through many, many years of harsh desert storms.

"Firdous," Haruka repeated quietly to himself._ The city in the north._

Haru glanced over his shoulder at his beloved camel, unwrapping the cloth he wore around his neck from his face. "We're here, Baa-chan," He told the camel, who grunted and immediately started walking forward, wanting to enter into the town. Haruka let Baa-chan pull him along for once, equally as happy to have finally made it to the city he'd been directed to. Walking was so tiring; it was nothing like how he remembered swimming to be.

_Travelling at night was significantly easier than during the day, though,_ Haruka commented to himself as he was lead along by Baa-chan, his blue hues staring down at the desert floor. He watched as it slowly turned from grit and sand to the same hard, solid ground that every town he'd come across seemed to be settled upon. He and Baa-chan had headed north just after their encounter with that ghostly figure at sunset, walking all night without having to feel the burn of the sun or the sting of sand in their eyes. They hadn't ran into any bandits or thieves, either, which made Haruka wonder why on earth they hadn't been travelling by night all along.

_Father once told me it was dangerous..._ The black-haired young adult thought, grunting as his arm was jerked backward, Baa-chan attempting to make him stop. _Wait... When did Baa-chan get behind me?_ Haru thought to himself, frowning. He stopped, glancing back at Baa-chan, the rope that connected the two at full extension. The camel grunted at him, shaking her head like she was trying to nuzzle her snout into the air. Haruka glanced ahead of them. His eyebrows raised.

The old man's description was spot on; this city really did look like all the rest had from the inside. Run down establishments such as bars and shops situated just on the corners of streets, stands where people were selling their own homemade goods, trying to get anyone and everyone they could to buy something. Children played in the street, dressed in rags and their faces freckled with dirt. Haruka couldn't help but to make a face.

_I was hoping it'd be at least a little different,_ The male thought as he gently tugged on Baa-chan's rope, urging her forward as he began to walk. His eyes scanned both sides of the street they were on, taking in this city of supposed _"enchantment"_ that looked just like any other worn down village one would be bound to stumble upon in the middle of the desert. There was nothing special about it whatsoever; his own home had been better than this, even_ after_ the oasis had dried up.

It was just then, as this thought fluttered across Haruka's mind and he began to long for home, that something gold flashed in the corner of his eye. The male frowned, turning his head slightly to the right where he could see a big crowd gathering and heard the soft clanks of what sounded like metal hitting metal. He looked over at Baa-chan, then back at the crowd, wondering what it was he had seen.

That was when he saw it again— just a bright flicker in a sea of dark colors and dirty faces. A gold bangle, along with a full head of golden blonde hair. Haruka felt himself being pulled in, his feet beginning to move as he headed over to the crowd, Baa-chan following behind him. He was curious. He'd just found something that appeared to be unlike anything that he'd ever seen in any other village he'd ever come by and wanted to know just what that something was.

"Excuse me," Haruka mumbled as he pushed through the crowd, making his way to the front. He stepped on a man's foot during his trek through the group, causing said man to hiss before grunting, turning and leaving the scene. Haruka watched him with icy blue eyes before giving a grunt of his own. Then he heard a giggle. The male looked ahead of him.

There for all to see, shining under the already bright and dazzling sun like a lightning bug caught in a flame, was a boy. He was about a year or two younger than Haruka, donned in a pink ensemble that Haruka briefly noted was just a few shades off from matching his eyes, which were both pink and abnormal. There were gold bangles donning both his arms and legs, dropped down to around his ankles and being carefully kept around his wrists with the way he pointed his hands.

_The way he moves..._ His movements were what really hooked Haruka.

The boy was dancing, but in a very different way than he'd ever seen someone dance before. He was fast and moving to a set rhythm, smacking his bare feet against the ground in accordance to the rhythm in his head, moving his arms every which way and letting the bangles cling and clank together. His hips snapped from side to side in what was meant to be a somewhat sexual display, his head bobbing.

Then he was slowly winding down, twirling gracefully on one foot as the crowd cheered, several people dropping bits of money at the boy's feet before leaving, returning to their every day lives. Only Haru stuck around to watch, with the exception of Baa-chan. His eyes stayed on the dancer as he finally stopped mid-twirl.

"Like the show?" The blonde asked, his voice teasing as he bent down, collecting the money he'd earned. He'd noticed how intensely the other male had been watching him, especially towards the end of his dance.

"At the end... You changed," The Haru commented, causing the boy to blink, turning to look up at him. "Hm? Ah, yeah. Well, it was the end of the dance, and..."

"Will you dance for me again?" Haruka asked, not sure what exactly was coming over him. There had just been something about the way the boy had moved in the last bit of the dance; something familiar and wonderful. The blonde blinked once more, standing. He looked a little surprised at first, before he slowly smiled.

"I usually don't do the same dance twice in a row," The boy said, putting away the money he'd received from his last performance in a small change purse, which he kept strapped to his hip. Then he turned his attention back to Haru, grinning. "But I can make an exception, I'm sure." The boy said, giving Haru a once-over. He was cute.

Haruka shook his head. "I don't want the same dance," He stated, "I want a slower one."

The blonde blinked, perplexed. People usually wanted fun, upbeat dances— not slow ones. "I guess I can do that," He said with a shrug, smoothening out his outfit before he smiled, taking a step back from Haru. He raised one of his index fingers to his lips, winking.

"Just remember this doesn't come free," He reminded the older, taller male, who nodded. The blonde smiled, his pink hues glancing past Haru and towards Baa-chan for a moment before shutting as he went still. He appeared to be going over some slower moves he could do for the black-haired beauty's request in his head. Then he took in a small breath as he began to move, ready to go. Ready to go _slow._

Now_ this_ dance _really was_ like nothing Haruka had ever seen before. This dance was filled with slow, precise movements that flowed into each other. This dance had no stomping feet, but rather pointed toes. The movements of the blonde's hands and feet didn't bring about all that clinking and clanging, but instead just a soft clink here and there. The boy rolled his hips in a surprisingly nonsexual way, moving his torso along with them, and there were all sorts of turns that Haruka had to stop and wonder how the boy didn't get sick or dizzy. It was beautiful: calm and serene, peaceful and magnificent.

That was when it hit him: like water. The boy's dance reminded him of water; the way they both moved, slowly but with great confidence, and flowed along, doing their own thing.

Upon discovering this, the dance seemed to only look more and more beautiful to the male, until it was finished, a thing of the past. Haruka watched the boy winding back down, this part of the dance just like the ending scene of the one before it, and felt reluctant to see the boy's free, calming style of dance disappear. But all good things must come to an end.

"So," The blonde panted slightly, having felt the handsome stranger's eyes on him the whole time, "What did you think?" He asked, smiling as he put his hands on his hips. Haruka watched the boy for a moment, before nodding and stepping back towards Baa-chan. The blonde boy blinked, watching as Haruka went into a small bag on the camel's side and pulled out an even smaller bag, loosening it's strap and reaching inside.

The blonde's pink hues lit up when he caught sight of Haruka's money, their glow only intensifying as the male reached forward, taking his hand and placing the coins inside. The boy giggled, closing his hand around the money.

"Thank you," He said in a sing-song sort of voice, putting the money away like he had the rest. The stranger's next comment, however, sent him for a loop, catching him off guard.

"You moved like water," Haru said, eyeing the boy, who raised his head back up to catch his blue gaze. "Eh? Like water?" Haruka nodded. "It was beautiful," The taller male said, causing the shorter's face to flush.

"O-Oh, um, thank you," The blonde boy said, fidgeting a bit. He'd never been complimented before; people were always giving him money, but they never said much to him. _That's how it always is..._ The blonde looked down, face flushed.

Haruka nodded, his business there done, and turned to leave. The blonde's heart sank.

"W-Wait!" The boy was following Haruka to Baa-chan in an instant, causing both the male and camel to look at him. He shuffled back and forth on his bare and dirty feet, hands behind his back.

"I'm Nagisa! What's your name?" The blonde, Nagisa, asked, smiling in a friendly manner. Haru stared into the boy's pink hues for a moment before introducing himself. "I'm Haruka, and this is Baa-chan." He took the liberty of introducing the camel. Nagisa giggled.

_Baa-chan? That's a weird name to give a camel. Can't be too surprised, though. This guy's definitely an out-of-towner. He's super handsome, though, so I shouldn't mention it._

"Ah, okay. So Haru, Baa-chan, have you been here in Firdous long? Gotten to see the city yet?" Nagisa asked, his smile widening as he leaned forward, towards Haru. The black-haired male leaned back a bit. "No."

"Uh-huh," Nagisa backed away, folding one arm under the other as he brought his hand to his chin, thinking. "Well then, I guess that can only mean one thing," The blonde said, face serious and causing Haru to start to worry just before the boy smiled and reached out, hugging one of the other male's arms, bringing it tight against his chest. Haru looked Nagisa in the face, mulling over the possibilities of what may or may not have been about to come out of the blonde's mouth. Those pink eyes were beautiful, but something false was held within their depths; he could just feel it.

"You need a tour! And for your sweet compliment earlier, it'll be free of charge, okay?" The boy giggled, already beginning to drag Haruka down the street before the black-haired male could wrap his head around what the blonde had said. Once he had, he shook his head quickly. "No, no—" Haru tried to fight the blonde off, discourage him, but Nagisa only laughed, pulling him along. Haruka had no choice but to go with the little blonde; he had a vice-like grip.

And so Haruka proceeded to be given a grand tour of the _"enchanting"_ city of Firdous by Nagisa. He was shown all the old shops, where the people of the city lived, the best bars and even the back alleys, even though there was little to nothing there but a bunch of bums. The only spots Nagisa didn't drag him into seemed to be the brothels, which Haruka couldn't be more grateful for. That'd be in_ such_ bad taste.

"Well? It's all fascinating, isn't it?" Nagisa chirped with a big smile donning his face, before going onto pout as Haru merely shrugged. The younger boy watched the other look around, scanning the area, and giggled. "What'cha looking for?" He asked.

"Some water," Haruka murmured in response, causing Nagisa to jump to attention. "Oh, I'm sorry! Are you thirsty?" The blonde asked, to which Haru nodded, if only to pacify the boy and his worried expression.

"Okay! Come with me, then," Nagisa was back to grabbing onto Haruka's arm, pulling him forward. "We'll go to the center of the city. That's where our water source is," The blonde stated. Haru's eyebrows raised. "Water source?" He repeated, "I was told that there was an oasis_ outside_ the city; are you telling me there's a source of water inside the city walls, too?" Again, Nagisa laughed.

"Uh-huh," The blonde nodded, pulling Haru down the street, Baa-chan following along after them, Haru's hand still on the rope. "The oasis is for leisure, though. The water here in the city is for everything else: cooking, bathing, drinking," He listed, causing Haruka to nod. He got the point. They had quite a system going here...

_The place is still a dump, though._ Haruka thought to himself, though didn't voice his opinion and instead let their conversation drop into absolute silence as they walked. Nagisa lead him along, pointing out other things he'd apparently missed on the tour every now and then, but otherwise just continuing forward. Haruka found himself liking this better than he had the tour itself; Nagisa wasn't going on about every shop sign or crack in the ground this way. It was quieter.

Haru's breath caught in his throat when he saw it: a large, manmade fountain in the middle of the city. It's perimeter was built from stones, all mismatched yet beautiful as a whole, and a small geiser of water was spewing up towards the sky in the center, making the water droplets sparkle in the sunlight. As they got closer, Haru examined the structure more closely, wondering how they'd managed to build this sort of thing. The blonde beside him took in his amazement, giggling.

"Gorgeous, isn't it?" Nagisa commented. Haruka nodded in agreement, reaching out to stick his hand in the fountain, feel the water slide through his fingers. This caused Nagisa to gasp, however, and the blonde quickly reached forward, grabbing Haruka's wrist and pulling his hand away. "You can't do that, Haru-chan!"

"You have to use this if you want to drink from the fountain," Nagisa then went on to say, reaching under the hem of his shirt and pulling out what appeared to be a small clay cup. He handed it over to Haruka, pushing it into the black-haired male's hand. Haruka looked at the cup, holding it up to the light and examining it as Nagisa sighed. "You've really gotta learn how things work around here," he commented.

"I won't be here long," Haruka said, though in truth he didn't know. In the back of his mind he was still thinking about that magnificent body of water waiting for him in the palace, wherever that was. Not once during his journey the night before had he even started to draw out a plan as to how he was going to get there and now he was regretting it. The male pushed the thought aside however, reaching down towards the water again, this time with the cup.

As he was scooping up some water into the cup, Haru heard someone come up beside him, beginning to speak to Nagisa.

"Hey, Nagi," The figure greeted and out of the corner of his eye Haruka could see it was a young man probably a few years older than himself. He had dark brown hair and bright red eyes and was dressed in mostly blue and white garments. Haruka let his eyes slide back to the cup Nagisa had let him borrow, watching how the water inside it reflected the sun's warm glow so perfectly. He didn't see the way Nagisa tensed beside him, uncomfortable with the prescence of the group's new addition.

"Oh, hey," Haruka heard Nagisa greet the other male, who began to talk to said blonde in hushed whispers. Haruka let his mind wander away to another place; obviously he wasn't meant to hear their conversation._ Not like I'd be interested, anyway,_ The boy thought to himself, lifting the cup of water to his lips. He drank from it, gulping the water inside down with one swallow, and a shiver rocked his body. It was_ delicious._

_Such wonderful water,_ Haruka found himself thinking, moving the now empty cup down from his lips and staring into the fountain in front of him. The water glistened in the sunlight, gently rocking against itself, and Haruka found himself being taken in by it's beauty. It was so nice and clean looking and the drink he'd just had of it had been _so cool._ Haruka gulped, wondering how it'd feel to have that coolness gliding across his skin, and slowly sat Nagisa's cup on the edge of the fountain. His hands came up to the cloth drapping over his shoulders. Slowly, he began to pull it off.

"So, what do you think, huh?" The tall male that had strode up to Nagisa moments before purred, leaning down towards the blonde, who shrank back a bit. "Eh, well, I'm sure that'd be fine," Nagisa said, unable to believe the situation and just about ready to ask if they could go talk elsewhere. Then he heard a big splash and the mouth of the male in front of him dropped forward as someone behind him screamed.

_"Our water!"_ A woman nearby screamed and Nagisa whipped around. A hand immediately flew to the blonde's mouth and he gasped. _"Haru-chan!"_

Haru's clothes laid just outside the edge of the fountain and the cup Nagisa had let him borrow was sitting daintily on it's edge while Haru himself was _in_ the fountain. The boy was submerged, totally naked under the water, and as a man screamed, _"Somebody get that guy out!"_ the black-haired male raised. A woman shrieked, covering her little girl's eyes, not wanting her to take in Haru's nudity. Meanwhile, Nagisa stared at Haru's half, blinking. He continued to stare until he was bumped into.

"Eep!" Nagisa fell over a bit, having to catch himself before _he_ fell into the fountain, too. A man had pushed past him and was now grabbing Haru by the arm, yanking him out of the water. "You!" The man snarled, pulling Haruka close to his face, his large nose turning a bright shade of red as well as the tops of his ears and the apples of his cheeks. "You, outsider! You just poisoned our water supply!" The man yelled.

Haruka looked dimly at the man before blinking. _Poisoned?_ Haruka scowled slightly. "I didn't—" Haruka began to defend himself, but the man cut in, shaking his head as he tightened his grip on Haruka's arm. The boy winced. "You did! You're an outsider, right?" _You already told the world that, pops._ "Who knows what sorts of diseases you could be carrying from other towns and villages! You could be carrying something fatal, something serious that could kill us all, and you just ruined our water supply!" The man lashed out, thrusting his index finger out at the water. Off to the side, Nagisa winced. Manoto-san could get really aggressive.

"Somebody call the guards!" Cried a woman, whose two children had already been scared by the man's — Manoto-san's — yelling. Another man standing nearby her nodded, rushing off to fetch said guards.

Next Haruka knew, a dark brown gown of some sort was being tossed over him and pulled over his head, his arms being slipped through the holes they needed to be slipped through. His clothes and equipment were confiscated by some palace guards, who Haru first made the wrong decision of trying to fight off before giving up, letting them tie his arms behind his back and begin to leave him away. One of them walked on each side and as he was lead away the one on the left told him that he was being arrested and what for. Haruka wasn't listening, though.

"Wait," The blue-eyed boy turned to the guard to his right, effectively shutting up the one on his other side, and nodded his head back towards the fountain, Nagisa, and, most importantly, Baa-chan. "The camel comes, too," He said, blue eyes hard as the guard to his right looked at the one to his left. The two seemed to communicate silently for a moment before the one on his right grunted, motioning back towards Baa-chan. The other nodded, running back to fetch the animal. Once they were all caught up with each other, the quartet continued on.

Far behind them, a disheartened Nagisa watched them go, the red-eyed male from before standing beside him still.

_"Haru-chan..."_

**[CHAPTER TWO: "ARRESTED IN FIRDOUS" END.]**

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...So what did you guys think? I know— it's shitty, isn't it? Sorry— I tried! To help raise your spirits, though, lemme remind you Episode 4 comes out in less than 48 hours!


	3. Reaching a Compromise

Hey, guys! Well, here's Chapter 3 of "TKS." I just wanna thank you guys so much for all this support. _You freaking rock. _Okay, bye!

**Summary: —**

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Free! Iwatobi Swim Club._**

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**[CHAPTER THREE: "REACHING A COMPROMISE."]**

_"Wow."_

The word left Haruka's lips quietly, slipping past them without permission. The black-haired male stared up at what was apparently the royal palace, taking in the large, towering structure. It was very tall and made out of stones similiar to the ones back at the fountain, but darker in color. Haruka couldn't help but notice that the mismatched stones all fit together perfectly, giving off the same beautiful appearance that the fountain had, even with water in absence.

_How did I miss this?_ Haruka wondered, thinking back to when he'd been touring the city with Nagisa. He had never glanced up and seen something this big then; Nagisa hadn't even pointed it out. _Why not?_ He questioned.

As Haru pondered this, noting that the palace had no visable windows and briefly wondering how dark it must have been inside, the guard on his left began to speak.

"Keep the camel outside; confiscate and sort through all it's cargo and then take it to the stables," Guard A grunted to Guard B, who returned the grunt with an accompanying nod. The man on Haruka's right took Baa-chan's rope from the man on his left, proceeding to turn away and drag Baa-chan off to carry out the orders he'd been given. Haru felt his heart sink as he watched them go, watching as the camel pulled away from the guard, trying to stay with her companion.

"I'll see you later, Baa-chan. Be good," Haruka said to the camel in an attempt to calm the animal. Baa-chan cried out in what must have been a sob before ceasing to resist, letting the guard lead her away. Haruka's frown deepened and he turned to the guard positioned to his left.

"You can keep all the stuff," Haru said, staring up at the guard, who was a good few inches taller than himself. "But I'd better get that camel back," The black-haired traveller said seriously. The guard scoffed. "I don't know what you'd want with such an animal; camels are dirty and hideous. Besides, it's not up to _me_ whether or not you get it back," The guard said, adjusting his uniform with his left hand before looking Haruka right in the eye, blue meeting amethyst. "That will be up to the King."

Haruka grunted, looking away from the taller male as said man jerked him forward, escorting him into the palace.

The sound that immediately greeted them was music to Haruka's ears, playing like a long-forgotten lullaby. Water— _running water._ Water unlike the kind stationed in an oasis or spewed out of the fountain in the center of the town; this was the sound of water that ran _free_, forever charging forward. The sound was beautiful.

Blinking his eyes several times to help them adjust them as he came in out of the sun, Haruka looked around. The male drew in a sharp breath.

It was absolutely gorgeous. The room they'd entered into was large —_ a throneroom, no doubt_ — and several brightly lit torches illuminated said room. The torches were lined up along the walls, five on one side and five on the other, and their light hit the walls beautifully, making them sparkle.

"Tunnels," Haruka murmured quietly to himself, thinking back to what the old man from the evening before had said: water was constantly travelling through this place via small tunnels. Small tunnels which Haruka could see from where he stood, just on the other side of the torches and built into the walls, small waterways tunneling fresh, gorgeous water. Haruka found his throat suddenly felt dry and itchy, his hands beginning to sweat.

_But wait,_ Haruka paused in his admiring of the fantastic water system, looking down at the hard stone floor. _Where's all this water coming from?_ He pondered to himself, remembering that the old man had said the water all started in one small area then magically managed to run throughout the entire palace. _Is that really possible?_ The boy wondered, turning his head to look behind himself, see if he could pinpoint the exact location the water was coming from, when the guard beside him grunted, elbowing him. Haru frowned, looking forward again. The frown melted off his face immediately, his eyebrows raising just a tad.

There in front of them, situated on the other side of the throneroom just past the last pair of torches running parrellel to each other from eitherside of the room, were the King and Queen. Their thrones were high above the guard and himself, sitting on top of a raised platform that was only accessable via a set of stairs which connected said platform to the palace floor.

"Come," The guard to Haru's left said, urging him forward as he began to approach the King and Queen. Haru followed, finding he didn't have a choice.

"My loyal guardian," The King said in a deep, slightly raspy voice as the guard stopped just at the bottom of the staircase leading to the royals, pulling Haruka to a stop beside him. "Who is this?" The King questioned, reaching out and gesturing towards the male beside the guard. Haruka couldn't help but notice the difference between the King and his Queen seated just beside him; it was phenomenal.

The Queen was beautiful, her hair and eyes a dark red to match the outfit she currently wore, but the King... Haru couldn't even see his face. A shadow was cast over it, probably due to the lack of torches atop the platform. _That still doesn't explain why she's so bright and he isn't, though._ Haruka thought.

"This man has been arrested for poisoning the town's water, Your Highness." The guard answered his King, gently prodding Haruka forward. The black-haired male grunted.

"Poisoned?" The King's raspy voice came again. The guard nodded, standing at attention. "Yes, sir! He attempted to bathe in the fountain located in town square, sir." Haruka scowled. "Swimming," He corrected the guard, "I was_ swimming._" The tall male beside him elbowed him again. Haru found himself getting _really_ tired of that _really_ fast, but his mind was drawn away from his agitation as the King addressed him directly.

"You, boy—" The King was back to pointing at him, "you must be an outsider. If you were from my city, you would know about the oasis nearby and would have done your swimming there, surely." The guard beside Haru nodded. "Precisely!" He agreed. _Kiss up,_ The smaller male thought.

"I did know about it, your Kinglyness." Haruka went on to say, not sure if _"Kinglyness"_ was even a word. There was a grunt from the King's throne. "You did?" Haruka nodded. He saw the King shift.

"You must be no older than eight or nineteen," The King commented; Haruka could feel the King's eyes running over him, scanning him. Then he saw the outline of the King's face bobbing as he slowly nodded.

"Tell me, boy— What business do you have here in Firdous?" The King asked. Haru pulled his blue hues back to where he was assuming the King's face was and shrugged.

"I was just wandering the desert and happened upon your city, Your Grace." Yes, that sounded much better. Again, he saw the King's torso and shoulders move like he was nodding. "And why were you out in the desert to begin with?" The mysterious royal went on to ask; Haru's eyebrows furrowed, though only slightly. He didn't like where this was going. "I had my reasons," Was his simple answer and the guard beside him scowled.

"You," The guard began, shaking Haruka's shoulder a bit, "The King just asked you a question; don't give him such an inadequate answer!" Haruka grunted, shrugging the man's hand off his shoulder just as the King quietly said, as if he was satisfied by Haru's answer, "I see. Well then, at the very least," The King seemed genuinely interested in Haruka now, which the boy didn't find himself liking. "Tell me, where do your origins—"

"Excuse me, Otou-san, Okaa-san?" A feminine voice called out in the middle of the King's question, which Haru found he was grateful for. He looked over to a small door located just to the right of where they were standing, between the fourth and fifths torches on the right side of the room. A girl was standing there that looked eerily similiar to the Queen, except she was younger and her hair was longer, reaching her mid-back.

The girl stepped forward with a big smile gracing her face, the long, pink skirt she wore swishing against her ankles as she came to stand just at the edge of the stairs, looking up at the platform. "Excuse me," She said to Haruka and the guard, giving a nod, which the two men returned.

"Gou," The King said to the girl, whose smile only widened. She reached up, clasping her hands against her stomach, intertwining her fingers together as her thumbs subconsiously ran over the soft pink fabric covering her midriff. "What is it, my daughter?" The King asked, the Queen waving down at the girl from beside him, smiling. _She doesn't seem to talk a lot,_ Haruka noted. He hadn't heard her speak _yet._

"Ah, Otou-san, I was wondering if I could go to town for Onii-chan. The girls coming for his bridal selection will be arriving tomorrow and he wants them each to be given something nice. So, I thought I'd head to the florist in town and see what I could do. I've heard from Okaa-san that her arrangements are beautiful," The girl, Gou, giggled. The Queen smiled, while the King heaved a heavy sigh. "I suppose so. Make sure to take several guards with you, though."

"Oh, thank you! I'll make sure to be back before the sun sets!" The girl turned, practically running out of the room, going back the way she came. It was clear that she was excited. _If she's their daughter, she must be the princess. Probably doesn't have a lot of freedom,_ Haru found himself thinking before the King cleared his throat, grunting a bit. The blue-eyed male looked back to him.

"Where was I?" The King asked. The Queen smiled, reaching over and placing her hand on her husband's.

"You were asking this young man where he wanted to be: in jail or working for you, dear." The Queen said. "Ah, yes!" The King nodded. The woman giggled, taking her hand away from her husband's. Haruka watched as she sat back in her seat, placing her hands in her lap. She winked down at him, that ever persistant smile still carved into her face, and Haruka felt himself silently thanking her. He was surprised the King had changed gears so quickly, though.

_Memory problems? Old age?_ The King _did_ sound quite a bit older. What surprised Haruka even more, however, was that the guard beside him was saying nothing. _Must know not to interfere._

"Well, what'll it be?" The King asked. Again, Haru could just feel the King's eyes on him. He nodded slowly, eyes wandering back to the Queen before returning to the King. "I'd like to stay and work for you, sir."

"Alright, then." Again, he was sure the King was nodding. "From now on, you will be my servant. Only my wife and myself will have any say in what you do; pay no mind to my son and daughter. You'll soon learn they aren't quite ready to be in a seat of power." Haruka nodded.

"And sir?" Haruka straightened up his posture a bit, noticing he was starting to slouch forward. Having his hands tied behind his back was becoming very uncomfortable. "Yes?" The King responded.

"I have a camel. So long as I stay here and work for you, can the camel stay, too?" Haru asked. The King grunted. "I suppose." Then he clapped his hands loudly.

"Ryo! You will be in charge of keeping an eye on this boy! Make sure he gets a good feel for the palace and stays out of trouble! Also, let him go see his camel!"

"It's Rei, sir," The guard mumbled, but still nodded, and Haruka glanced over at the guard, looking up into his face. The guard looked back down at him, returning his stare. For the second time, blue met hazy purple.

Up at their thrones, the King and Queen could be heard quietly beginning to chat. The guard, Rei, looked at Haru with intense eyes.

"The King tends to forget very easily, so he can't recall. But call me Ryo and I promise you'll never see that hideous camel again."

Haruka scowled, beginning to walk as Rei lead him forward, past the King and Queen's thrones to a small door on the right towards the back of the room.

"What about the water in town?" Haruka asked, following behind the blue-haired male. The King hadn't seemed to remember what he was there for after his daughter's interruption. Rei sighed.

"The royal family will have to replace the water; the Queen will take care of it, I can promise." Haruka nodded.

And for the second time in just under five minutes, the male found himself eternally grateful to the Queen of Firdous. _Bless her._

**[CHAPTER THREE: "REACHING A COMPROMISE." END]**

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Lay it on me— what'd you think? Okay for a third chapter? This is pretty much the last set-up chapter, so be happy! Chp 4 will be up 07/27! Bye! -Puddinpie.


	4. Their First Meeting

Hi guys! So here's the fourth chapter! Um, you'll see it's a little different, probably once you start reading it, but I wanted to stray from the norm. That okay?

**Summary: —**

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Free! Iwatobi Swim Club._**

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**[CHAPTER FOUR: "THEIR FIRST MEETING."]**

_"Flower Shop"_

Princess Gou read the sign in front of her, taking in it's simplicity and wondering if all things in the city were this straight and to the point— and dull. Her carriage driver had taken her _straight to_ the shop, so she hadn't really had a lot of opportunity to look around the rest of the town. Gou frowned at the thought, turning to the two guards that had accompanied her.

"Stay here, you two. I'll be back soon," The girl ordered and the two guards nodded, hopping to attention and posting themselves just outside the shop. Gou made a face, wishing that she could have come alone, before turning her attention towards the shop.

"Excuse me," Gou mumbled quietly as she brought up her right arm, pulling the orange tarp hanging in the flower shop's entrance to the side and stepping through the doorway. The Princess looked around, gasping quietly as her red hues took in all the plants and flowers inside the establishment. Some were sitting in pots on the floor and on shelves, while others were cradled inside of hanging pots that lined the walls. Gou was amazed at the sheer number of them as she slowly walked forward, a very earthy, foreign scent invading her nose as her footsteps echoed quietly, the jewelry she wore jingling.

_Most of these look very spiky and uncomfortable,_ The red-haired royal frowned, not sure that the girls coming to meet her brother would like such things._ I sure wouldn't want any of these as a present. Okaa-san said that this woman's flower arrangements are beautiful, though, so..._ Gou's thoughts trailed off as she stopped walking, her red eyes looking straight ahead, right at the counter that was waiting for her.

Two small children were sitting on the counter, one on either side with about a four foot gap between them. One was a girl and the other was a boy; they looked very similar to each other and were dressed in the same white gown and purple apron. Each had a small flower pot in their little laps and what looked like a small knife in their hands, going to work at the plant in their laps. As she stood watching them, for a reason unknown to her, Gou felt an alarm go off in her brain and she shrieked, causing both children to jump, and moved over to them in a flash.

"You two," Gou began once she got to the counter, looking between the boy and girl, "You shouldn't be playing with knives! You could hurt yourself!" She scolded, a deep frown on her face. The two kids looked up at her before exchanging a look, then looking back up to Gou once more. When they glanced at her the second time, she couldn't help but notice their eyes seemed to be sparkling, though with what she didn't know.

"You're Princess Gou, aren't you?" The little boy asked the red-haired teenager; his voice had a dreamy feel to it. Beside him, the little girl discarded her knife onto the wooden countertop beside her, giggling. "Okaa-san!" The girl turned around a bit, calling for her mother out the back door of the establishment, which Gou hadn't even noticed until just then.

"Okaa-san, Princess Gou is here!" The girl giggled again and turned to look back at said royal princess, smiling. "My name is Ran," She chirped, then pointed to the boy beside her. "And this is my twin brother, Ren! Don't pay him a whole lot of attention to him; he's just a big baby." The little girl said with another giggle. The boy, Ren, frowned at his sister's comment.

"I am not!" The boy tried to defend himself, causing his sister to shake her head, her dark green pigtails swinging slightly.

"Are too!" Ran retorted firmly and Ren hiccupped, reaching up to wipe at his eye. _"I am not..."_ The boy said again, but this time with a significantly smaller amount of confidence behind his tone. Gou made a nervous face, not sure how to handle the situation. She didn't know anything about feuding siblings; she and her brother had always gotten along fairly well. After all, Rin was the apple of her eye— always had been and always would be.

Thankfully, before Ren could burst out into tears and Gou had to take it upon herself to intervene, a woman came in through the door behind the counter, laughing.

"Ran," The woman said, wiping her hands on her apron, which was green rather than purple like the twin's. "What have I told you about bullying your brother? It isn't nice. The two of you are family, so love each other." The woman advised, causing Ran to puff out her cheeks and pout, looking away. "Okay, Okaa-san," The girl mumbled, defeated, and picked her knife back up, going back to doing whatever it was she'd been doing before Gou had approached the two children. From this distance, Gou realized that the kids were trimming the plants in their laps— and expertly, at that.

_This must be a family business and this must be their mother,_ The redhead thought to herself, looking away from Ran and to the woman now standing between the two twins, behind the counter. Gou eyed the woman, taking in her long, dark green hair that was so similiar to Ran's and her green hues, as well as the soft, comforting smile on her face. _Like Okaa-san's,_ Gou thought, a soft smile finding it's way onto her face.

"Ah, well now, is there something I can help you with, Mi'Lady?" The woman called out to Gou, effectively snapping her out of her examination of said woman. Gou blushed and nodded.

"Um, yes," Gou clasped her hands together out of habit. "There will be a bridal selection for the Prince tomorrow and the royal family would like to give each of the girls a small gift to thank them for coming. I was hoping you could make something for them," The Princess explained, leading the woman to nod in understanding. "I see," She said. "So, do you have anything in mind?"

"Ah..." Gou glanced back behind herself at all the plants she'd thought previously looked scary in and of themselves, then looked back to the woman. "I was thinking maybe something they could wear. Like a bracelet or a crown of flowers, so that they don't have to carry anything around in their hands all day tomorrow. But..." Gou gave an anxious glance to the potted plants in the woman's children's laps. The woman laughed, smiling.

"But you want something soft and pretty something that'll look nice and won't prick their skin, right?" Gou nodded, grateful to the woman for having understood her concern so easily. The florist returned the girl's nod.

"We can do that. If you'd come this way, please," The florist moved behind her son, stepping around to the side of the counter and gesturing Gou to come to the back of the store. "I'll show you the plants I'd suggest we use. I'm afraid I don't have any prepared." She said in an apologetic sort of way. Gou nodded, following the woman as she moved around the counter and out the back door of the flower shop.

"Since it's so hard to grow flowers like the ones you're requesting, we have to charge much more for them than the other plants. Usually only the royal family can afford to buy them, so I don't keep any in the shop itself. I'm sorry for the inconvenience." The green-haired woman apologized. Gou shook her head. "It's alright, um..."

"Tachibana," The woman introduced herself, smiling at Gou, who smiled back and nodded. "Tachibana-san."

The two females, now officially introduced, stopped just inside the garden behind the flower shop. Gou gasped.

There were _so many plants_. Big ones, small ones; ugly ones and pretty ones. The entire area was fenced in, though the old wooden fence was only about two feet tall, and she could see a house situated on the other side of it. All the plants inside the garden were organized in a way Gou soon found she couldn't identify.

"This way, please," Tachibana-san instructed Gou after giving the girl a moment to look around, motioning for the younger girl to follow her as she walked off to the left. Gou nodded, following behind her.

The older woman lead her to a small section of the garden filled with small, beautiful flowers that Gou didn't recognize. They were all different colors — pink, blue, purple, yellow, and red — and most of them had a white center with four or five dark lines running out from the middle of them. The flowers with five of these lines reminded Gou of little stars.

"These," Tachibana-san said as she bent down and reached out, touching one of the flowers almost like she was petting it's stem, "are Morning Glories. I think they'd be perfect." She commented. Gou nodded.

"I do, too," The Princess agreed, then smiled. "I think those would look best in a crown. Would you do that for me, please?" The redhead asked sweetly, causing the woman to laugh. She stood back to her full-height and nodded. "Of course. I'll go set up the order right now, okay? We'll make the crowns for you and everything; you just pick the colors, okay?" She asked with a smile. Gou nodded and the woman began to head back inside before pausing. "Oh! And also," She said, turning back towards Gou. "For a crown of flowers, we'll probably need six flowers each. Just something to think about while you're picking the colors."

"Ah, okay," Gou said with a nod, watching the woman leave before turning back to the flowers. She crouched down. _Onii-chan's favorite color is red,_ The girl thought, pursing her lips as she looked the red Morning Glories over. They looked nice, but she didn't want to pick just the red ones. _Maybe put them in a pattern? Red, another color, red, another of the same color... Yeah, that'd be nice._ Gou nodded to herself, eyes narrowed in concentration before she squeaked quietly, feeling something brush her leg, accompanied by the sound of purring.

"Eh?" Gou glanced down beside her, her eyes immediately lighting up.

"Oh, wow!" The Princess squealed, reaching down and picking up the thing that had brushed her leg, taking it into her arms. It was a little cat— or at least, that was what it looked like. The animal's coat was a pale sandy color and kind of prickly, but not quite in a bad way. It's belly as well as it's chest was white and the tips of it's ears and it's nose were black. What Gou found to be the cat's best asset, however, were it's pretty green eyes, which stared at her like she was just as interesting to it as it was to her.

"Hello there," Gou cooed, giggling as she cuddled the cat. It purred, though it's tail flicked in an agitated sort of manner and soon it was leaping out of her lap. Gou frowned. "Aw..."

There was a chuckle, along with a chime of, "Don't feel too insulted. Sho isn't your average stray cat."

Gou blinked, turning to look over her shoulder. Her cheeks immediately flushed.

Standing there behind her, smiling down at her, was a boy a couple of years older than she was. The first thing Gou noticed was that he was dressed in pretty much the same ensemble as the woman and her two children inside the flower shop, then she let her eyes wander, taking him in.

His skin was tanned nicely and his hair was sort of a greenish-brown color, his eyes a bright and healthy green shade. He was handsome and the look his eyes held — soft, somewhat amused, and definitely kind — made the girl's heart melt, along with the chuckle the male offered. The red tint to Gou's cheeks darkened as she realized she'd been staring and the Princess immediately popped up to her full height, hand coming up to brush part of her bangs out of her face.

"O-Oh, it isn't?" The girl's voice was shaky as her red eyes couldn't help but give the boy a once-over. Said olive-haired male smiled once more and shook his head, crouching down and swooping the cat up into his arms as it rubbed against him. He stepped closer, letting Gou get a closer look as he scratched underneath the cat's — Sho's — chin. Gou slowly raised her hand, hesitantly reaching out and petting the cat's head.

"Sho here is a sand cat. They're kind of like domesticated cats, but they're a bit bigger when they get older and prefer to live out in the desert because they like making burrows inside the sand. They seem to like living in small villages, though, too, if given the chance. He personally really likes playing in my mother's garden." The boy explained. Gou nodded, taking the time to note that yes the cat did look a bit bigger than a regular cat already; she didn't know how she hadn't seen it before.

"He's cute..." The Princess mumbled as the cat, Sho, leaned out of the male's arms, trying to extend himself into Gou's. The redhead took him a bit hesitantly, blushing as the cat rubbed his head against the underside of her chin, purring loudly. The male in front of her smiled.

"Do you want him? He seems to really like you," The boy said. Gou's eyebrows raised. "C-Can I?" She asked. "I mean, is it really okay?" She'd always wanted a pet. The male laughed and nodded.

"Of course, Your Highness. I'm afraid I won't be able to hand him over to you today, though," He said, rubbing the back of his head. "He's still a bit too young to be taken from his mother, see." He pointed over on the other side of the fence, back towards the house Gou had noticed earlier, where an adult sand cat was laying against the side of the house, sleeping in the shade with another kitten. "Oh..." Gou mumbled, slowly smiling as she watched the mother sand cat yawn, curling her abnormally long tail around her baby.

"How long would you say until I can have him, then?" Princess Gou asked as she turned to look back at the boy. "Ah..." He rubbed his chin, thinking. "About two weeks, I'd say. If that's alright." Gou nodded. If she was going to take this animal, she wanted it to be old enough to be taken from his mother. The boy laughed, nodding.

"Okay. Just send somebody in two weeks to claim him. Or come and pick him up yourself, if you can, Princess Gou." The boy smiled. Gosh, she found herself drawn in by his smile. "My name's Makoto, so when you come back, ask for me, okay?" The male, Makoto, said. Gou nodded and watched the boy laugh one last time before taking Sho back. Gou found herself immediately missing the cat's prickly-yet-strangely-soft fur against her arms.

The feeling of longing was increased tenfold as she watched Makoto throw up a wave, bidding her goodbye, as he stepped over the small fence that surrounded Tachibana-san's garden, heading towards the house. Gou stood there watching him, her face flushed as it had been throughout their entire conversation, and felt her heart pitter-pattering in her chest.

_"Princess Gou?"_

The girl snapped out of her dream-like state as she jumped to attention, hearing the florist calling her. "Y-Yes!" She answered, running back inside. She would be coming back herself to claim that cat— _definitely_.

A few hours later, after everything had been said and done and the flower crowns had been officially ordered, the flowers had been picked and trimmed, and then made into a crown and sent back with Gou, the girl was tired. As she road back to the palace, she found herself staring out her carriage window in a daze. She felt really exhausted, having not realized going into the city for something so small would take so much out of her, but strangely happy. Makoto and Sho flashed through the girl's mind and she giggled. _They were cute, especially together, _She thought.

"We're here, Princess Gou," The carriage driver called and Gou sighed, picking herself up and slowly stepping out of the carriage. She left the flower crowns inside, letting one of the guards grab them, and approached the palace entrance. Her brother was waiting for her just inside the doorway.

"Yo," Prince Rin greeted as his little sister stepped into the palace. Gou shrieked, taken by surprise, and then caught her breath, placing her hand on her chest. "You scared me, Oni-chan," The red-haired Princess pouted, causing her brother to laugh. The purplish-red haired and equally as red-eyed Prince took a step towards his sister, slipping his arm around her shoulders. Gou immediately sank into his touch, finding the feel of his dark red, silk robes comforting.

"Sorry, Gou. But hey— did you get that stuff worked out?" Rin asked as he and his sister walked side-by-side. Gou nodded, taking a moment to note that her parents were no longer seated on their thrones; it was probably time for dinner. _I hope Otou-san helped that boy earlier,_ Gou thought as her mind flashed back to the black-haired boy that'd been with her Otou-san and Okaa-san earlier in the day. The girl hadn't noticed the boy's hands were tied behind his back at the time; she hadn't realized that he had been arrested.

"A nod? That's all I get?" Gou's brother said teasingly beside her and the girl laughed. "Yes, I did. There, _happy?_" The redhead joked, bumping her hip against her brother's much sharper, masculine one. The Prince snickered.

"Guess so."

**[CHAPTER FOUR: "THEIR FIRST MEETING." END]**

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Okay, guys. So we met Makoto, sort-of introduced Rin, and I just set up what will be the root of _a hell _of a lot of character development later. Yay us.


	5. The Tenth Princess

Yo! I am proud to introduce to you all the _longest chapter _of "TKS" so far. I didn't _mean _for it to be this long (about 5,000 words) but I was having fun. Go figure.

**Summary: —**

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Free! Iwatobi Swim Club. _Just the plot and the princesses!**

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**[CHAPTER FIVE: "THE TENTH PRINCESS."]**

"Make some friends, Baa-chan."

_Guh! Nmmph!_

Haruka smiled, scratching underneath his trusty camel's — and now the royal family's, too — chin. The furry animal nipped at him before she turned her head away, demonstrating the one rule the black-haired male had taught her upon receiving her; no spitting at him. Haruka watched the camel spit at the ground, taking his hand back and letting it drop as he grimaced, though only slightly. There was a scoff to his right.

_"Disgusting,"_ Rei said with a scowl, looking away from the spitting creature just as her owner turned his head to look at the blue-haired male. Said guard stood with his arms crossed and a deep frown settled into his face, the tips of his eyebrows furrowed together as he focused his purple hues on the ground. Haruka let his own smile slip off of his face, frowning as he turned towards the palace guard.

"We can go now," The black-haired young adult said, taking a step away from Baa-chan and leaving the stables. _Finally,_ Rei thought, pushing his silver glasses up the bridge of his nose. He followed the shorter male out of the stables, glad to be rid of both the flies and the stench. He'd had to bring Haruka here the night before on the King's orders and then _again_ that morning due to Haruka's own personal demands. He found the whole ordeal to be rather ricidulous; it was only a camel. Then again, Rei had never quite been an animal person.

The two walked in silence back to the palace, where Haru found himself immediately relieved from the sun's heat upon entering into the cool, dimly lit structure. The male paused for a moment, standing there in his new outfit — white, tented pants with a red sash around the waist and a royal blue, sleeve-less vest embroidered with gold thread around the hem — and allowing the cool draft of the corridor to ghost over his partially exposed sides. It felt nice; after just half a day of being inside such a dark and cool palace, he'd found the sun brutal after venturing back out into it's scorching heat and bright glow.

"Oi, this way."

Haruka turned his head to the left, realizing that Rei had already begun to walk ahead without him. The shorter but apparently older male followed — they'd already discussed ages; he was nineteen, Rei was eighteen — and allowed himself to fall into step beside the blue-haired guard. "Where are we going?" Haru asked, his blue eyes shifting to look over at his companion.

"To the southern end of the palace," Rei responded to Haruka's question, glancing over at the male briefly. "I was told your first order before I fetched you this morning and I am to have you perform it before the Prince's bridal selection comes to an end." Haruka raised his eyebrows, surprised but also curious.

"First... order?" Haru repeated in a mumble. Rei nodded.

Meanwhile, in another wing of the palace, one that was heavily decorated and well-lit by torches upon torches upon torches, a short, silver-haired male fished around inside a rich purple satchel. The boy mumbled quietly under his breath, softly cursing himself — with words like_ "idiot"_ _"moron"_ _"horrible assistant, horrible"_ — as he rummaged through his bag. He finally pulled out a small scroll, breathing a sigh of relief. He'd thought he'd lost it— or left it behind, at the very least.

The boy, whose hair was as silver as moonlight on the desert sand and eyes were as blue as the purest of all water, grunted softly. He took hold of the strap of the bag draped across his chest, anchored on his right shoulder, and swung the bag around so that it was situated behind his back. Feeling behind him, the boy made sure the bag would stay without coming back around to his front before he looked at the door in front of him.

_This is your first time assisting Prince Rin with something so crucial, Nitori,_ The boy thought to himself, squeezing his eyes shut as he knocked on the door._ So be helpful and don't mess up!_ The boy encouraged himself as he held his breath, waiting.

_One, two..._ Seven seconds the silver-haired boy stood there in his pale yellow ensemble, waiting for the door to open. Always one for patience but never when nervous, he was about to knock again when the door opened. The boy jumped to attention, bowing his head out of both respect and obligation.

_"Prince!"_ The greeting came out as a bark, causing the boy to clutch at his scroll nervously. There was a laugh.

"Oi, Nitori— there's no need to shout," The Prince grinned, eyeing his anxious and now-blushing assistant. The boy flinched slightly at what he knew was meant to be a joke before slowly opening his left eye, then the other.

"R-Right," Nitori mumbled, then tried again, offering up an apologetic smile. "Good morning, Prince." He bowed his head again, this time more calmly, for good measure. Rin snickered.

"Morning," The Prince replied, tucking his hands into the large sleeves of his robe. Nitori took a moment to look the Prince over, feeling that it was okay to be bold enough to do so, as he was his aid.

_You can tell that there are worlds between us,_ Nitori thought as he eyed the Prince. He wore a long-sleeved robe that was a dark gray color — it was almost black, but Nitori knew it to actually be a few shades off — and matching pants. A small dagger was situated against the Prince's waist, some golden bands lining his forearms, and his robe was designed with a little bit of gold, but otherwise was not decorated and left to be plain.

The silver-haired young boy immediately found himself understanding the reasoning behind the robe's design; a lot of decorations would be too much. Two necklaces — one made of jade and the other golden and supporting a charm shaped like the sun — hung around the Prince's neck; this was where one's attention was supposed to be drawn. Unfortunately, Nitori couldn't say that these were the first thing he saw when he looked at the Prince anymore. He'd seen him too many times.

Above the necklaces, up past the Prince's neck and face, wrapped around his head, was his signature red turban, which Nitori had always found to be his favorite part of whatever outfit the Prince wore. He admired how royal but comfortable the red headpiece made the Prince look and had, since he was a child, really liked the small whisps of what Nitori could only liken to donkey tails that extended out of the turban. He'd never known what to call them— he could only refer to them as _"donkey tails"_ to himself, though, of course. He'd never dare make such a reference out loud._ After all..._

He had once as a child— which Princess Gou heard, then went around laughing and giggling and singing about, finding it funny. Needless to say, when the King heard her singing about such a thing and had asked who had said the Prince's turban made him look like a donkey, Gou had pointed at him— Nitori, the little servant boy. She hadn't known better, he guessed, so he didn't hold it against her, but... _That punishment was harsh. Never again will I..._

"You look nice today," The Prince suddenly commented with a grin. This pulled the silver-haired boy out of his thoughts almost immediately and Nitori frowned, looking to the redhead, then at the floor.

"I'm wearing the same thing I wear every day," Nitori responded somewhat grimly. The same pasty, pale yellow shirt he wore every day was draped over the boy's chest and the same matching, just as bland and plain tented pants covered his lower half. He looked the same as he always did — just as dull and boring.

The only things Nitori found himself grateful for in his outfit were the blue sash tied around his waist and the purple satchel slung across his chest. Aside from his eyes, these pieces of accessories were the only real means of color he had to him. Not even his shoes held the all-attention grabbing power of the color black; they were a pale, pasty color that rivalled his naturally light skin. Needless to say, the outfit he wore day in and day out caused him great displeasure.

"Hm, well, I guess that just means you must look nice everyday, neh?" Rin said absentmindedly as he placed his hand on Nitori's shoulder, brushing past him and expecting the boy to follow. Nitori turned to watch him go.

_The Prince is... excited, I think,_ Nitori theorized before quickly moving to catch up with the Prince, not wanting to be left behind._ He's eager to choose his bride— to be like the King._

"So, Ni," Rin said as they walked, moving down the corridor at a slow but steady pace. "What can you tell me about this selection today?" He asked, red hues glancing over at his assistant, who jumped to attention.

"A-Ah!" Nitori quickly opened up the scroll he'd fished out of his satchel previously, skimming over it briefly as they walked, the silver-haired boy a pace or two behind Rin. One did _not_ walk next to the Prince unless they were on the same social level as the Prince; only Princess Gou could, amongst the royal family. Servants such as himself walked a couple of steps behind the Prince and Princess, while the King and Queen, their parents, walked several paces ahead of them. It was like a horizontal pyramid; the farther back one was in line or in formation, the lower one was on the pyramid. And Nitori was one of the many at the bottom.

"There will be ten young women at your bridal selection this morning," The blue-eyed boy began, letting himself roll the scroll in his hands back up. "All ten of these women are princesses that your father, His Royal Highness, the King, has had brought in to be seen by you. He hopes that you'll find one among them that you favor— that woman will be your betrothed. She will be the one to take over the role of Queen when you assume the throne as King." Nitori explained, ducking slightly as Rin, still ahead of him by just a step or two, moved a tarp that was hanging in one of the corridor doorways out of his way, holding it for Nitori, as well.

Rin paused on the other side of the tarp, letting it fall back down after Nitori had passed through the doorway, and nodded. The Prince grinned, placing his hand on his chin and looking at the door that awaited them, just a little ways ahead the door that lead to what they called the _"Bahr."_

"Right. So I'm supposed to be interviewing them, essentially?" Rin asked, having noted that his assistant had said that his father hoped he'd find one that he "favored." He couldn't wait to do this— it was nice being able to pick the person he would spend the rest of his life with. And the idea of sitting down and getting to know ten different girls one-on-one sounded like it could be fun; the idea of following in his father's footsteps sounded very appealing to the young Prince, as well. Overall, he thought the day could prove to be very promising and eventful.

"Ah..." Nitori sucked in a small breath, quietly, before slowly letting it out. "Not quite," He said with a shake of his head. _Actually, not at all._ "He wants you to simply look at them. They are all of noble blood and the King believes that their backgrounds are sure to be perfectly fine, so he wants you to base your decision off of their looks. Every Queen in the history of Firdous has been very beautiful, you know," Nitori said with a nod, slipping his old, trusty scroll back into his satchel. "He told me last night when he briefed me on all this that this is the same method he used when choosing your mother as his bride— his Queen."

_Not true,_ Rin made a face, heaving a small but heavy sigh. He knew for a fact that, back when his father had been at the appropriate age to wed, there had been only two princesses in the entire desert— his mother... and her twin sister. _Identical in looks, but polar opposites in personality._ _He had to get to know them,_ Rin mused inwardly, frowning just ever so slightly. His Otou-san was losing it, he knew— he didn't want to admit it, though.

"Something wrong?" Nitori asked with a frown, eyeing the Prince. Rin shook his head, letting another grin slip onto his face as he turned to look at the boy, pushing his previous thoughts away. "Let's go," He said, thrusting his thumb in the direction of the Bahr before he turned and began to head in it's direction. Nitori blinked, staring after the Prince, then nodded, quickly following. Once they arrived at the door, Rin pushed it open.

The Bahr was where the royal family threw all their important events, making it a palace highlight for royals, but in town it was simply treasured and known best as the home of what was known as the _"Great Well."_ It was a large room — the only room in the palace that rivalled the throneroom in size — and was brightly lit. Half of the room was plain, mere empty space until the area was needed for something, and the other half was nothing but the Great Well.

The large body of water sat situated against the southern end of the room and was lined by a wall that was two feet in height and acted as the Great Well's perimeter. All throughout the walls of the room, tiny waterways tunneled down to the back of the Great Well, where the water flowed seemingly endlessly into the large collection of water. Nitori had always wondered how the large body of water had never managed to overflow.

"Good morning, Princesses," Prince Rin greeted with a smile as he and Nitori approached the girls. They were lined up just along the outer edge of the Great Well, all holding hands with one another. Rin grinned, finding it cute and wondering if that was protocol or they'd simply decided to do so on their own, and beside him a fierce blush ignited Nitori's cheeks. All the princesses were beautiful, to say the least.

Each princess was dressed in a white, sleeveless dress that flowed down to the floor, a brown sash tied around each of their waists and a single gold necklace situated around their necks. They had all been dressed to be seen as identical— that much was clear, but none of them looked alike in appearance. _No twins,_ Rin noted to himself, not sure whether he was happy or a bit disappointed about the fact.

"Hello, Prince. Good morning," The ten princesses bowed their heads as they greeted him in unison. Rin's smile grew and he stopped in front of the girls, giving them a once-over as a group. "I hope you all had a nice trip," The Prince said, motioning for Nitori to stand where he was before stepping away, allowing the silver-haired assistant to take his spot as he approached the first girl. _Let the selection begin._

The first girl in line, situated to the far left of the group, was gorgeous, though she looked to be a few years younger than the Prince. Her hair was light brown and just barely reached her shoulders; Rin imagined the girl's locks probably _would_ if straight, but the ends of the brown tresses curled a bit, flipping outwards. Her bangs were parted in the middle, swishing out to frame the sides of her face, and her eyes were a nice golden color. Her skin was just barely sun-kissed, a soft tan color, and as she smiled at him Rin took note that her dimples were cute.

Smiling at the first girl, Rin stepped to the side, moving onto the next girl just as the door to the Bahr opened and a masculine but not quite deep voice called out, _"Delivery."_

Both Rin and Nitori, as well as all ten of the visiting princesses, looked over towards the door, in the direction of the voice. Rin slowly turned to face the door, while Nitori settled for glancing over his shoulder.

A boy stood just barely inside the door, dressed in white and blue garments that both the Prince and his assistant were able to easily recognize as the standard dress for servants. His hair was black and his eyes were blue; lining up and down both his arms were crowns of flowers— five on each arm. _Those must be what came out of Gou going to town yesterday,_ Rin thought as he grinned. They — the crowns, that is — looked nice.

"Those are the gifts, right?" The Prince called out to the boy, beckoning him closer with his hand, the other resting on his hip. The servant slowly moved over towards the Prince, his blank look slowly dissolving as he looked to the Great Well during his trek across the first half of the Bahr and stopped just in front of the Prince. As the boy examined the water, peering between two princesses to do so, the Prince examined him.

Up close, the boy had more detail than he had farther away— naturally. What Rin had only seen as black hair before he could now note was a bit side-swept, and the boy's eyes weren't just blue, but rather _striking._ Rin couldn't say he recognized him; distantly he found himself wondering if the boy knew who_ he_ was as he began to feel slightly agitated.

"Oi," Rin snapped his fingers, pulling the boy's attention away from the Great Well and back to him. _That's not for you._ He was the Prince here— servants were supposed to be focused on him.

"Yes?" The servant boy responded as he looked at Rin, settling his blue hues on the cerise-haired Prince, who frowned slightly. "Who are you?" Rin asked, dropping his hand to his side. The boy blinked, face dull once again. "Haruka," He answered simply, absentmindedly running the pads of his fingers over one of the flowers that made up the flower crown closest to his right wrist. Rin watched the boy's movements, nodding.

"You're new here, aren't you, Haruka?" Rin asked. He made it a point to know the servants; someday they'd all be his, once his father stepped down from the throne. Rin watched the boy, Haruka, as he nodded. The Prince grinned.

"You're lucky to be able to have the honor of helping out with something so big, then." Rin turned back around to face the princesses waiting for him, snapping his fingers before he gestured to his left.

"Follow behind me," He ordered. The Prince made sure Haruka had moved to stand beside him, positioned in front of the first girl and putting one of the flower crowns — one made of red and yellow Morning Glories — on her head before he looked to the second girl. Behind the two, Nitori's mouth fell open slightly.

_You do not stand beside the Prince! You do not!_ The silver-haired assistant mentally scolded the new servant boy, but found the boy obviously had no way of hearing him. He watched on in shock and — secretly — slight jealousy and admiration as the Prince and the new servant, Haruka, made their way down the line.

_None of them are sticking out,_ Prince Rin thought, distressed as he and Haruka moved down the line of girls, him looking them over while Haruka placed their flower crowns gingerly upon their heads. _They're all just... beautiful._ The Prince glanced over at the servant boy, fighting off a scowl. He was back to staring at the water, glancing between the eighth and nineth princesses. The Prince felt something in his stomach flip.

_This is a big day for both myself and the city of Firdous— the least you could do is pay attention,_ Rin commented inwardly as he stepped over to stand in front of the tenth princess. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Haruka stand in front of the eighth princess for a few seconds, still looking at the water behind the girl, before he realized the Prince had moved on. The boy side-stepped, reaching up and placing the ninth girl's crown on her head. _Distracted much?_ Rin thought.

"Hello," A soft, purring voice pulled Rin's attention away from Haruka and back to the girl in front of him. The tenth Princess was smiling up at him — or was it a smirk? Eitherway, Rin was both surprised and semi-impressed. So she'd dare to be different and actually speak to him, huh?

"Hello," Rin returned the Princess's drawl of a greeting, smirking before looking her over. She was attractive, for sure— her hair was light purple and cascading down her back, her eyes a bright blue shade. Her skin was nice and white, smooth, and as his red hues trailed over her face Rin found himself pausing, eyes locking on a small beauty mark just under her right eye. He glanced back at his assistant, who blinked at him in a curious sort of way, before looking back at the Princess. He didn't catch the way her eyes roamed to the silver-haired boy, the corners of her mouth curling upwards. What a funny coincidence.

"Nice help, huh?" The Princess said with a smirk — yes, this one was definitely a smirk — as she nodded her head towards Nitori, then Haruka. Rin glanced over at the black-haired boy to his left before he grinned, stepping to the right and saying to the Princess, "Yes, but he hasn't helped you, yet," The Princess's smirk widened. Her eyes glanced one more time over at Nitori, who this time was able to meet her eyes.

Haruka seemed to be paying a bit more attention this time around, enough to know when to move, and the boy moved to the right as well, standing in front of the purple-haired girl. She smiled as the boy reached up, staring past her but fitting the last crown of flowers on her head, all the same. The girl leaned up slightly on her tip toes, putting her head in front of Haruka's face. Like Rin and surely some of the other girls, she didn't like not being the center of attention.

"Is there something more interesting than me that you see?" The Princess asked with a smile. Haruka, eyebrows slightly furrowed, slowly reaching out, bracing his hand against her shoulder. "Yes," The blunt, not-used-to-pacifying-royalty servant answered dully as he pushed the Princess out of the way not quite forcefully, but enough to make her move.

The girl squeaked slightly as she stumbled and frowned, her eyes shooting forward as she noticed both the Prince and his assistant were looking at the servant boy now rather than her. Feeling agitated for being brushed aside so easily, she reached out, grabbing the back of Haruka's blue vest as the boy went to make a dive into the Great Well.

There was a scream as Haruka dived, dragging the unrelenting Princess into the water with him as well as the sound of a large splash followed by a slightly smaller one echoed throughout the Bahr. The Prince and Nitori gaped and Rin quickly approached the edge of the Great Well, bending forward slightly and placing his hands on his knees. "Princess?" He called, looking around in the water, feeling his throat go dry in anticipation but tears springing to the corners of his eyes as he tried to hold back his laughter, managing to stop all possible chuckles and snickers from escaping past his lips even though that had been _funny as hell._

"Wha- _Wha_-" The Princess came back up to the surface of the water first, spluttering and angry. Her once semi-curly, gorgeous hair now hung limply, sticking to the sides of her face as her makeup ran, painting black waterfalls down her cheeks and a river of blood from her lips down to her chin. The girl kicked at the water, flailing her arms as she began to curse and shout, talking about how humiliated she was and how violated she felt — though Nitori found he really didn't get that; Haruka had just been trying to get the overly self-centered girl out of his way. He personally felt he'd have done the same — if he'd been that bold of a person.

"Ah, are you okay, Princess?" Rin asked as he offered his hand down to the wet and red-faced Princess, who scowled at the other girls as they watched, trying to contain themselves and not cry out in laughter. She turned her blue gaze to Rin as he made an attempt to help her out, smiling as she took his hand, beginning to thank him as the Prince averted his eyes elsewhere.

To the Princess's right, just a few strokes behind her, Haruka bobbed up to the surface, effectively — though unintentionally — slipping the Princess's forgotten and floating flower crown onto his head. The black-haired boy shook his head a bit — getting the water off the ends of his hair, Nitori would imagine. He then looked up at Rin with the same dull, blank look he'd had pretty much the entire time he'd been in the Bahr, save for an excited stare Rin had caught on the boy's face just a split-second before he dove into the Great Well. Returning Haruka's blue stare, Rin lost it. How could such a blank face look so _comical?_

"Hahaha!" The Prince burst into laughter, letting go of the Princess's hand by accident as he brought his hand to his face, covering it while the other hand clutched at his abdomen. The Princess shrieked, dropping back into the water with a splash louder and bigger than the first had been, and soon she heard the laughter of the other girl's echoing in her ears, as well.

Rage flooded through the girl's system as she spluttered back up to the surface, shooting a hateful, angry glare at everyone in the room that only Nitori caught, as everyone else — save for Haruka — was too busy laughing. Nitori shrank back slightly as he caught the girl's gaze for a second time, then she shifted her hateful stare to Haruka and he felt relieved, sucking in a breath as he watched on.

Feeling the girl's glare on him now, Haruka turned his head to look at the girl, returning her angry look with his usual dull one. _Uh-oh._

Then he sank back into the water, diving as deep as he could, and the Princess's mouth dropped open. The girl kicked angrily at the water, slapping her hand against the rippling surface, and hissed as everyone but two people in the room laughed at her and the two that weren't laughing blatantly ignored her.

_You all just keep laughing it up— wait until my mother hears about this!_

**[CHAPTER FIVE: "THE TENTH PRINCESS." END]**

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Things I learned this chapter: I like writing for Nitori... and some princesses really are whiny drama queens. This one may end up being more than that, though. Anyway, I hope you guys liked reading as much as I liked writing this — come on, how _else_ would I pump out 5,000 words? See ya! Remember _Free!_ is in 4 days!


	6. Haruka's Fate

Ahhhh, hi guys. How are you all today? Well, here's the sixth chapter of "TKS." I hope you like it and... please look at the WARNING section below?

**Summary: —**

**Warnings: **Some semi-heavy RinxNitori implications. Please read the note at the end of the chapter for more details.

**Disclaimer: I still don't own _Free! Iwatobi Swim Club._**

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**[CHAPTER SIX: "HARUKA'S FATE."]**

"How dare you, how dare you, how dare you— _How dare you!_"

Haruka blinked, staring back in the direction of the Bahr as he was dragged towards the throne room by the Princess he'd successfully — though unintentionally — dragged into the Great Well with him previously. The black-haired servant's heels slid across the floor as the Princess stormed down the hallway, going on about how she was going to make sure to it that the King punished him thoroughly.

Haruka made a face. She was going to pull out all the stops she could to make this as troublesome as possible for him, wasn't she? It had been an accident and, above that, it'd been her fault for grabbing onto him...

"I told you, it was an accident. You shouldn't have—" The newest servant boy began, but went silent as the Princess forcefully dragging him along hissed, taking it as his cue to shut up. _Lest she become more obnoxious._

Staying quiet with the intention of not further angering the visiting Princess, Haruka stared down at his feet, wondering just how much of his skin was being peeled off by the floor as he was dragged along. _Exfoliation..._

Meanwhile, the Princess was inhardly fuming. _How dare he, how dare he, how dare he..._ The girl raged to herself as she pulled the servant boy along, hardly caring what he was doing. She stopped at the door to the throne room, throwing it open.

"Your Highness, Your Highness!" The purple-haired girl cried out as she made her way into the room, pulling Haruka around to her front and pushing him forward as she approached the tall staircase that lead to the thrones of the King and Queen. Haru found himself mentally noting that the girl was much stronger than she looked. He pulled his attention away from the whiny Princess, however, as he caught sight of her proceeding to shoot daggers at him with just her eyes.

Haruka looked up to the King and Queen's platform to avoid looking at the Princess. His eyebrows raised. The tenth Princess frowned.

_How dare he look away from me again! I am important! I am the future Queen of Firdous!_ The Princess mentally snarled and snapped her head forward, shooting her blue hues up to the King and Queen as well. "Your High—" She stopped, her mouth ceasing to move and her lips refusing to finish out the title as her eyes caught sight of the two thrones overhead.

Only the Queen was seated up on the platform, sitting comfortably in her throne. The King's seat was_ empty_; the ruler of Firdous was _absent_.

The Princess held her breath as she watched the Queen's red eyes dart to her. Damn her outburst— damn the tantrum she'd be having!

"...Ob—" The Princess tried to speak, but found she didn't have enough breath stored in her lungs to finish the word, not enough oxygen in her chest— at her disposal. She sucked in a breath to try and talk again, only to be beaten to the punch as the Queen began to speak, her red gaze briefly shifting to Haruka before going back to the tenth Princess. Haru had only seen her once before — the Queen — but he'd never seen her eyes look so _cold_, so glazed over.

"_You,_" The Queen murmured quietly, her hands tightening around themselves in her lap, clutching onto each other tightly. "You couldn't _possibly_ be one of the ones my husband—" The red-haired woman broke off, pulling her lips together tightly. _She must be,_ The woman thought to herself, taking in the girl's soaked appearance, as well as Haru's. _They've been to the Bahr— to the Great Well. His Highness must have forgotten._

"One of the girls His Majesty, the King, chose to be your son's bride?" The tenth Princess finished for the Queen, slowly finding more and more of her voice as she spoke each word, until finally she was back to speaking with full confidence, the same way she would to anyone else. "Why, _yes,_ I am." The girl smirked. The Queen took in a short breath, puffing out her cheeks slightly in disbelief, then let the breath back out, her hands moving to clutch at the arms of her throne.

"I see. Then you should be at the bridal selection, not standing in the middle of my throneroom, soaking the carpet. The both of you— what happened?" The older woman asked. The Princess frowned.

"Where is the King? He's the one I wish to speak to," The girl declared, causing the Queen to scoff. "My husband is resting; he has complained of a terrible headache. If you speak with anyone, _it will be me_."

Haruka felt the Princess's grip on the back of his vest tighten, her hand giving a quick shake. Why did she want to speak to the King? Didn't she know he was losing his mind? _Or... is that why?_ He pondered, suddenly curious.

"No! It must be_ him!_" The Princess insisted, continuing to push her desire out into the open, trying to force it onto the Queen. She had to speak to the King— not her! "He is the ruler of this city, _not you!_"

"But I am his second command!" The Queen sounded very agitated now, standing from her throne as she gazed upon them with fire in her eyes, the ice in her tone having melted away. The red-haired Queen's eyes narrowed. "If you speak with_ anyone_, it will be_ me_, _Minako_. If you won't settle for me, you'll settle for absolutely _nothing_." The Queen's voice was rough, firm. The Princess shrank back. Haruka briefly found himself wondering how the Queen knew the girl's name.

"F-Fine," The Princess backed down from the Queen and her challenging tone, her grip on Haruka loosening briefly before it tightened all over again and the lilac-haired female thrusted him forward, her free hand pointing at her own soaking wet ensemble.

"This servant boy, this_ peasant_—" She spat the words out, showing just how clearly she thought Haruka to be below her, "dragged me into the Great Well with him! He ruined my outfit, my hair, my makeup... And messed with my chances of becoming your son's future bride! I demand he be punished severely! This is a crime— an act of sabotage against visiting royalty!" The girl ranted, arguing her point.

Slowly lowering herself back down into her throne, the Queen made a face. _I figured as much,_ The woman thought, recalling why the servant boy in question, Haruka, was there in the palace to begin with. After all, he'd only been brought in the day before for diving into the fountain in the center of town. It didn't surprise her to hear that he'd done the same thing all over again, only this time over towards the Bahr, the Great Well, and in a way it made the woman want to laugh on the inside.

As humorous as it may have been, however, the girl did have a point and she_ did_ see it fit that Haruka faced the consequences for his actions. The Queen nodded.

"I will make sure he faces some sort of punishment for his actions," She promised, choosing not to dive deeper into the subject, if only to pacify the girl quickly. "Is there anything else? A compromise we can reach to help patch things up after this incident?" The Queen asked. She immediately regretted it as another smirk spread across the girl's face. "_Yes,_" The Princess said quietly, grinning up at the Queen. "I want to be your son's bride."

"Absolutely not." Haruka was surprised at how quickly the Queen shot down the girl's proposal, as was the Princess. The purple-haired girl's hands shook, her eyes narrowing, and she scowled, curling her hands into fists.

"You asked what could be done to make up for this! I'm telling you— I want to marry your son!" The girl, Minako, exclaimed, this time in something of a shout. The Queen shook her head. "I refuse to allow that."

Again, Minako's hands shook, and Haruka carefully peeled himself away from her grasp, surprised when she let him go so easily. He took a step away, not sure what the girl might do.

Much to his surprise, however, the girl just wheeled herself around, turning away and shooting a glare at the Queen over her shoulder. "_I'll be back,_" Minako promised and moved towards the palace exit, stomping her feet all the way to the doorway. Haruka watched her go, glancing back up towards the Queen, who had one hand on her face, her fingers squeezing the bridge of her nose like she was trying to fight back a piercing headache.

_I think there must be some history there,_ Haruka thought to himself, flinching just slightly as the Princess knocked over a torch on her way out, letting it hit the floor with a bang, it's fire quickly diminishing. Then the door located just to the right of where he stood opened and both he and the Queen turned their attention in that direction. A smile slipped onto the leading woman of Firdous's face.

"Rin, my son— what brings you here? Have you chosen your bride?" The Queen asked. Haruka found it funny how quickly her demeanor had changed. _That girl was rather obnoxious, though._

"Yo, Okaa-san!" Rin greeted his mother, throwing a wave in her direction as he approached the staircase leading up to her throne, stopping just at the base of it, a few feet from Haruka. Nitori stood just behind Rin, though a bit to the right, and was fiddling with the strap of his satchel.

"Nah. I hate to say it, but none of them stuck out." The Prince raised his hands, shrugging his shoulders. "What can you do?" He said in a dismissive manner. The Queen sighed, though in a content sort of way.

"Well, it's fine. I've heard what happened; we'll hold another bridal selection for you soon. Maybe with less girls so you can sit down and get to know them, hm?" The Queen suggested, knowing that her son would rather select his bride in this manner rather than in the way that his father had set up for him previously. _He's losing it, bless his soul,_ The woman thought in regards to her husband.

"Yeah, sounds good," Rin nodded, grinning. "But hey— where is Otou-san?" The cerise-haired Prince asked, a bit of his smile slipping off his face as he looked around for the man. Oh, she couldn't stand to see that. The Queen stood, clasping her hands together.

"He was complaining of a headache, so I asked him to lie down for a while. He'll be fine; your father is a fighter. But above that," The Queen glanced to Haruka and gave a warm smile. Haruka's cheeks flushed and the Queen returned her gaze to her son.

"I have been told of what happened in the Bahr and I was asked by the Princess of Aaqir to make sure that Haruka here suffered the consequences. Seeing as how there _is_ no particular set of punishments written out for performing such an act as his, what would _you_ propose be done, my Prince?" The Queen asked her son, smiling. Rin blinked. "Eh?"

The Prince placed one hand on the back of his turban, playing with one of the _"donkey tails"_ as he glanced over at Haruka, who met him with an almost blank, but slightly curious look. The Prince grinned, looking at his mother.

"I don't think anything should be done against him for what he did. It was funny as hell," Rin commented. Up on her platform, the Queen scowled. "_Rin!_" She scolded and the Prince laughed. He knew his mother disliked cursing. "Sorry, sorry, but really— It's fine. He made things interesting," Rin insisted, turning and smiling at Haruka. The boy's curious expression was no longer present. Rin looked back at his mother, almost distressed— disappointed.

"Well, if you're sure..." The Queen said with a frown. "But Haruka, please apologize, at the very least. I can't let you off quite _so_ easily."

"Ah, right..." Haruka murmured, supposing he could do as the woman requested. The black-haired servant turned to the Prince, letting his arms lay flat against his sides as he bowed his head. "Sorry— I apologize."

"Heh..." Rin watched Haruka bow his head and apologize, submitting himself easily to his mother's wishes. Haruka looked like he was made to bow— born to submit to someone else. The Prince looked back to his mother, smiling. "Actually, I think I do know something I want done."

"Oh?" The Queen raised an eyebrow, curious. It wasn't often Rin asked for something. "What— What would you like done, my dearest?" The woman asked. Rin's grin widened and he raised his hand, pointing at Haru.

"I want to make him my personal assistant for three days," Rin declared. Behind him, Nitori nearly jumped out of his skin in shock as well as horror, and Haruka blinked, looking up.

"B-But Prince!_ I_ am your assistant!" Nitori argued, unable to help himself. He had been at the Prince's side for ten... almost eleven years! How could he look to replace him so easily? _Three days? Why not just one? Why any at all?_ Nitori inwardly panicked, wondering what he'd done to deserve to be cast aside so easily. Rin sensed his panic, however — as he'd had a lot of practice in the decade or so they'd been together — and snickered, turning towards Nitori.

"Calm down, Ni. I only said for three days," Rin said, placing one hand on his hip while he stuck up the three center-most fingers on his other hand for Nitori to see. The silver-haired boy looked at the three digits, still looking as though he'd just been slapped in the face. He shook his head. "But... But..." Again, the boy could do nothing but shake his head, tears springing into his eyes. The Prince was his best friend!_ So why...?_

"Ni." The Prince was in front of him now, directly facing the boy as he placed his hand's on his assistant's shoulders, bending down slightly and looking the blue-eyed boy in the face. Nitori frowned, returning his stare. "Why?" He murmured.

Rin sighed, wondering why he'd let Nitori become so _dependent_ on him, and smiled. "I just thought you could use a vacation, Nitori. You've been stuck to me like glue, doing anything and everything I said, for years. Don't you think you deserve a break?"

_Yes._ Nitori couldn't help but agree with what the Prince was saying, but the thought of being cast aside, even for just a few days to allow himself to have a break, upset him. Then a spark of hope sprang into his eyes. _Wait!_

"B-But... Even _if_ you give me a break, I can stay with you, right?" Nitori asked, voice small and slightly shaky. Yes— he could still stay by Rin's side, even when on vacation! They could actually have fun together and he could watch someone else wait on the Prince — maybe even him, too, if Rin allowed it — hand and foot! _Yes, that'd be wonderful! Hurry, Rin! Hurry and say yes!_

"No, definitely not." Rin shook his head. Nitori's mouth dropped open and, up on her throne, the Queen giggled. _What?!_ "B-But Rin!" Nitori cried out, only for said reddish-purple haired male to hold up his hand, effectively silencing his assistant. Nitori shrank back, hurt. Haruka just found it strange that both the Prince and the Queen let the boy's calling the Prince by his name go so easily. _There must be some history there,_ He thought for the second time that day.

"But _why?_" Nitori asked, sniffling as his shoulders shook. Again, Rin sighed, this time a bit more gruffly. "Ni," The Prince bent back down to the silver-haired teen's level, looking him in the eyes even though the boy had his eyes squeezed shut, refusing to return his gaze like he'd just been absolutely, positively betrayed.

"If you stick around me during your break from being my assistant, you'll only correct each and every little thing Haru does." Rin tried to explain to the boy. Haruka's eyebrow twitched. What made him think he could address him so informally like he knew him? _Well, whatever._

"_So?_" Nitori retorted back quietly, rubbing his eyes, trying to wipe away his tears. He hadn't let Rin see him cry since they were children— since the donkey tail incident. Rin frowned, reaching up and pulling one of Nitori's hands away from his face. "_So,_ you won't relax, Nitori— not even for a second. I want you to just stop and take a breather for a few days. Don't worry about me or Gou or anybody else— not even what Haruka's doing. Just relax for a while, okay? I'm not replacing you or anything," Rin promised, moving his hand to clasp onto Nitori's.

"You're like family, Nitori. I'll always keep you with me. Except these three days." Rin leaned forward, resting his forehead against Nitori's. "Let someone else suffer my wrath for a change," The Prince joked with a laugh, before going quiet, becoming serious. "Will you do that for me?" He asked quietly. Nitori nodded, defeated. He would, since it was Rin who was asking this of him.

The Prince grinned, slowly leaning away as he shook Nitori's hand with his own. "Good."

Turning away from Nitori, considering the situation handled and his feelings and wishes having successfully gotten across to the silver-haired boy, Rin looked back to Haruka, grinning. "What do you say, Haru? Want to be promoted for a few days?" The Prince asked. The blue-eyed, water-obsessed boy shrugged, his face dull. Rin laughed.

"You can start tomorrow! Meet me here in the morning and I'll explain some of the basics to you," The Prince said as he turned away, placing his hand on Nitori's shoulder and beginning to guide him back towards the door they had entered the throne room from. Haruka slowly nodded, watching the pair go, Nitori still wiping at his tears. Up on her throne, the Queen watched the long-time duo leave, smiling down at them.

_Family— huh, Rin?_ The Queen thought as the door shut behind her son and his still-but-soon-not-to-be assistant. She laughed, shaking her head._ My, my._

**[CHAPTER SIX: "HARUKA'S FATE." END]**

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Annnnddd... that would be a wrap. Okay, to anyone who dislikes RinxNitori— it's not romantically, okay, guys? I want them to be your, like, brotp in this fic. You just have to understand that, with the way I am writing this, they're _really close. _Like I implied pretty heavily this chapter, they've been together _a long time. _So, please, if it pissed anyone off, I'm sorry... but it's my story and I am going somewhere with all of this— even just Rin refusing to allow Nitori to hang around while Haru is his assistant. Please be patient, kukapow. Okay? I hope you said, "Okay!" because now I'm saying "Good!" Pha, bye, guys.

Reading over this, I foresee it getting... 2, maybe 3 reviews. It really is just a connector chapter, guys. And I'm sorry for Haruka's punishment being so predictable, but really— sometimes it's good to have elements like this, I think. And it's not gonna be three days equals "LOVE!" or anything, so... Yeah. Okay, NOW I'm out. Bye!


	7. Day One— Begin!

...You guys are gonna hate me _so much _for this. I'm sorry it sucks so badly. I'm so sorry.

**Summary: —**

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Free! Iwatobi Swim Club._**

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**[CHAPTER SEVEN: "DAY ONE— BEGIN!"]**

"You— the Prince's personal assistant for three days?"

Rei threw his head back and laughed, the high-pitched sound causing several of the camels inside the stables to jump to attention, looking around — alert — before lowering their heads again, going back to their early morning breakfast. Stationed just in front of his own camel, Haruka frowned.

"It's not that funny," The recent nomad-turned-servant-boy said coldly, his face scrunched up into a look of slight agitation as he rubbed the top of Baa-chan's head while the camel ate. Rei snickered some more before allowing his laughter to die down considerably, reaching up and wiping away a tear from the corner of his right eye.

"Oh, but it is," The blue-haired guard said as he smirked, adjusting his glasses as he looked over towards his companion. Haruka wasn't sure he liked Rei having a reason to be so amused.

"Why?" Haru questioned, scratching behind one of Baa-chan's small ears. The camel gave a grunt, raising her head from her bucket of chow before shaking it. At this act of rejection towards his actions, Haru drew his hand back, letting it drop down to hang by his side; he'd forgotten how sensitive and ticklish Baa-chan's ears were. _Sorry, _He silently apologized.

"Well," Rei pushed himself away from the wooden column he'd been leaning against, stepping carefully over a pile of hay that had a suspicious amount of flies buzzing around it. "I'm not sure you're up for the job. All you've really done thus far is submerge a Princess underwater, am I right?" Rei asked with a triumphant, know-it-all sort of smile as he gazed upon the shorter boy. The thinner of the two frowned.

_So he knows about that, huh? Gossip must be bad here,_ Haruka thought, not recalling telling the guard about the incident, as microscopic of a deal as he'd found it. Sure, he had told Rei that the Prince had decided to make him his personal assistant just a few brief moments before when they'd come out to see Baa-chan, but he hadn't said as to why. With the way Rei was taunting him now, it made sense why the taller male hadn't immediately questioned him in that surprised, disbelieving tone Haru had found he used often; he'd _already known_ why.

Haruka's stomach gave an offended flip and the male scowled, turning his head away.

"Whatever," Haru mumbled, not quite finding himself really caring how Rei saw him, and he gave Baa-chan a few last words of farewell before he turned away, walking past Rei and making his way out of the stables. The glasses-wearing guard blinked, turning his head to follow Haru as he watched the servant boy go, and he frowned, glancing back at all the camels in their stables, who all seemed to be looking at him now. They looked to be plotting against him— or maybe that was just his paranoia.

"W-Wait, don't leave me _alone_ with _them_!" Rei called, quickly following after Haruka, having to venture over several more piles of hay on his way out that he didn't seem to remember being there when they came in.

Minutes later, after a quick apology from Rei for being a bit overbearing with his taunting, the two made amends and went their seperate ways for the day. Rei went off towards the eastern end of the palace, claiming to have some business there, while Haruka headed in the direction of the throne room, recalling that he was supposed to be meeting the Prince there that morning.

"Excuse me," Haruka mumbled as he slowly pushed open the door he'd seen most commonly used to enter into the throne room— the one located just between the fourth and fifth torches lining the right most side of the throne room. The black-haired male slowly peered into the large room, glancing around, before he let himself push the door he was peeking around fully open, his hand remaining on it's handle.

"He isn't here yet," Haruka commented to himself as he slowly entered into the room, noting that the cold stone steps felt nice against the bottoms of his bare feet. The blue-eyed servant looked around, supposing he was supposed to wait for the Prince, and soon found himself moving over to the other side of the fifth torch, side-stepping to get away from the flickering flame settled upon the bundle of wood. He turned his attention towards one of the many small tunnels constructed into the throne room wall, stepping forward to get a closer look. He hadn't gotten the chance to get a good look at them yet.

_Beautiful,_ The blue-eyed male thought, peering into the tiny tunnel at the water flowing inside it. The light from the torches hit the water well, Haruka noted, watching as the nearby fire made the water shine and glisten. He blinked, slowly bringing up his right hand his index finger already posed to reach out and touch the small stream of water.

That was when he heard it: a grunt, followed by a loud, bellowing snore. Haruka paused in his pursuit of the water, glancing behind him.

_I thought there was no one here?_ He thought as he turned around, allowing himself to temporarily forget about the water tunnels all around him; he was sure there'd be other chances for him to examine them and take notes of what the water inside them was like.

The boy walked forward, stopping just in front of the stairs leading up to the King and Queen's thrones. He glanced to his left, blue eyes scanning the palace entrance; he briefly found himself wondering if one of the guards positioned on the other side of the entryway had fallen asleep. _And Rei thinks I did a bad job yesterday?_ Haru frowned, ready to go investigate. That snore had been something _fierce_— and bad on his ears.

Then he heard it again, however this time it came from behind him. The black-haired male whirled away from the palace entrance, his eyes slowly roaming, making their way up the stairs in front of him. His eyebrows raised.

Up atop the platform, settled comfortably into the Queen's throne and seeming to be sound asleep, was the Prince. The cerise-haired male was slouching, his elbow resting against the arm of his mother's throne as he leaned against it. _He_ was the one snoring.

"Oi," The male called up, cupping one hand around the side of his mouth to help project his voice. The Prince did not stir. Haruka scowled. "Oi!" He called again, louder this time. Still nothing.

_What do I do?_ Haruka thought, frowning as Rin snored particularly loudly._ Can I go up there?_ He wondered, giving a cautious glance to the bottom of the staircase leading up to the platform. _Will there be consequences?_ His frown deepened at the thought; like _hell_ he wanted any more of those.

Just as Haruka was thinking all this, trying to decide whether or not he wanted to risk getting into more trouble by going up there, where perhaps only royals belonged, a figure stepped up beside him.

"Having some trouble, young man?" A hoarse but feminine voice asked from beside Haruka, causing said blue-eyed male to glance to his side, blinking.

Beside him now, where there had been no trace of her in the room at all beforehand and he hadn't heard anyone come in, was an old woman. She stood at just about four feet tall — though Haru was sure she'd stand to be taller if she wasn't as hunched over as she was — and wore what could only be described as a brown dress with a white cloth holding her stringy, gray hair back from her face. Her face was covered in wrinkles and her nose was rather large, Haru noted. She smelled strange— Haruka distantly, for a split second, thought she smelled like the palace stables.

"Yes," Haru finally answered in a mumble, turning his gaze away from the elderly woman and glancing back up at the platform overhead. The woman gave a high-pitched laugh. Haruka flinched.

"Don't be_ too_ concerned about it. You need to speak with him, right? So go on up there and wake him up. He won't mind— _trust me_." The woman winked up at Haru, who looked back at the thrones. _Trust her, she says._ "Okay." He decided to take her advice, slowly beginning to proceed up the stairs. What else could he do? His calling wasn't helping any. The woman smiled, watching him go.

"Um, Your Princeliness," Haruka mumbled as he stood atop the platform, slowly reaching out and shaking the Prince's shoulder. When the taller male didn't budge, Haruka frowned. The boy turned his head to the side, glancing down towards the bottom of the staircase and shooting the woman a sort of look that said,_ "What now?"_

The woman was gone, however. Haru frowned, stepping closer to the edge of the platform and glancing around, scanning the floor below. "Where did she go?" He wondered aloud, flinching as the Prince spoke up behind him.

"Who?" Rin asked with a soft snicker, causing Haruka to turn around to face him. The frown on the black-haired servant's face deepened; the Prince didn't look like he'd just woken up_ at all_.

"You were awake," Haru said in a dull, unamused tone, and Rin laughed. "Sure was," He confirmed with a nod, sitting up and cracking his neck. Haruka scowled. "So why didn't you answer me?" He asked. Rin simply shrugged.

"I wanted to see what you would do," The male said, standing from his mother's throne. He'd made it a point to sit in her's rather than his father's; the King didn't like when other people, even his own children, sat in his throne, but the Queen tolerated it— sometimes she even _encouraged_ it._ "One day you'll be sitting up on this platform, Rin,"_ She'd say to him in that sweet, kind voice of her's. _ "So go ahead and get used to it." _She wanted him to get used to being in such a seat of power.

"I didn't expect you to start talking to yourself," Rin said, rubbing his neck as he approached Haruka, brushing past the boy with a smirk. "_Weirdo_— follow me," He ordered, proceeding to descend down the staircase. Haruka watched him go. _Talking to myself?_ He repeated inwardly and frowned, slowly moving to follow the Prince.

"Talking to myself... Was I?" Haruka asked aloud, following behind Rin at a pace that Nitori would have — had he been there — insisted was too_ close_, just an inch or two shy of walking directly _beside_ the Prince, which was a definite_ no-no_. Rin laughed.

"Yep, you sure were. What— got an imaginary friend or something?" The Prince asked, glancing back over his shoulder at Haru and laughing in a teasing sort of manner. Haruka scowled, shaking his head.

"No. There was an old woman," The boy tried to defend himself, causing Rin to laugh again, shaking his head. "You're an odd one, aren't you? There are no old women here; there aren't even any female servants." Rin stated, causing Haruka to raise an eyebrow. _No female servants?_ He repeated, _Then... who was that?_ The boy wondered. Had he really been talking to himself just seeing things?

A shiver moved through his body and Haruka shook his head. _No, there was someone there,_ He told himself, positive of the fact. He didn't care what Rin said; he'd seen _someone._

"Oi, don't get too caught up over it. Nitori had an imaginary friend when he was younger, too— so you're already following in his footsteps_ perfectly._ Now, come on," Rin called from far ahead of him and Haruka just then realized the Prince was already at a door located to the left of the thrones, pushing it open and preparing to exit the throne room. The Prince glanced over his shoulder at him now, smirking.

"You're my personal assistant for three days, remember? Time to get to work. And your first task is one I'm sure you'll find_ real fun_," Rin said, a smug look on his face. Haruka grunted, following after Rin as he exited the room.

_Somehow I really doubt that,_ The boy thought, shutting the door behind him as he passed through the doorway.

And behind the Queen's throne, the old woman Haruka was so sure he had seen and spoken to peeked out, glancing in the direction of the door the newly-acquainted duo had just exited out of. She gave a high-pitched laugh.

_Always an odd one, aren't you— Haruka?_

**[CHAPTER SEVEN: "DAY ONE— BEGIN!" END]**

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I'll be honest— this is the first chapter I would consider so bad I feel like crying. I'm sorry, guys. No— you don't need to review or whatever. It sucks, I know. But the feels from the actual Free! anime are too much and my mind is buzzing with all these possibilities and I've hardly slept the last two or three and says and ugghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Another chapter is going up tomorrow so I promise the first day will be better next chapter. I just want the three days to have, like, a lot of symbolism, I guess you could say. And yeah. I'm so sorry. Leave me alone.


	8. How They Clashed

Hey, guys! So, uh, I'm sorry about yesterday's lame chapter. I got some sleep, I promise! Also sorry for not writing out absolutely _everything _about the first day, or much at all, but hopefully you'll all see how I'm trying to make this all progress. Anyway, I hope you at least kind of like the chapter! There's a pretty long note at the bottom of this chap! Read if you have the time!

**Summary: —**

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Free! Iwatobi Swim Club._**

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**[CHAPTER EIGHT: "HOW THEY CLASHED."]**

"I have to_ what_?"

Haruka stared at the Prince incredulously, his eyebrows furrowed and his lips pulled together tightly. Had he heard him right?

_Please tell me I didn't,_ He prayed, but the Prince's following smirk told him that— _yes, he had._

"You heard me," Rin said, turning towards the servant boy. He stuck a hand on his hip, snickering. He'd expected this sort of reaction out of Haru— it was normal.

"_You_ get to bathe_ me_," The Prince said, emphasizing the first and last words of the sentence and thrusting his finger out at both Haruka and himself at the appropriate times. Haruka's frown deepened. "Is this really what a personal assistant does?" He asked. Rin nodded, grinning. "It is, but don't worry— you don't have to bathe _all_ of me," He assured. That said, the Prince turned around, continuing down the corridor he'd lead Haruka to. Haru followed.

They were in the western wing of the palace— or at least, that's where Haruka thought they should be, with the turns they'd taken since leaving the throne room and et cetera. Rin had told him upon entering into the very corridor they were moving down currently that this wasn't just another part of the palace. "This is where my sister and I stay." Rin had said. This lead Haruka into assuming that they were in a section of the palace that was closed off to just anyone— reserved for the children of the royal family. _How privileged,_ The blue-eyed boy thought to himself in regards to the Prince and Princess— Rin and... _Gou, was it?_

"So, that assistant of your's just goes around all day doing simple tasks for you?" Haruka asked, not knowing how else _to_ ask. If the silver-haired boy was in charge of bathing the Prince, didn't that mean he was more of a servant than an assistant? What— did he hand feed the Prince at mealtime, too?

"Not quite," The Prince responded with a shake of his head, not looking back at Haru as he pushed a door at the end of the corridor open, stepping into the room on the other side. The reddish-purple haired male held the door open as Haruka followed through the doorway after him, then he let it shut once more. Rin then proceeded to walk forward, his newest acquaintance following after him. Haruka peered around.

They were inside of a room— obviously. It didn't appear to be just any room, however.

It was big, first and foremost. The walls were made of the same stones as the rest of the castle, but a large variety of different types of tarps hung from said walls, all ranging in size, color scheme, and basic design. The biggest of the tarps was orange and purple, outlined in gold and hanging just above a large, circular-shaped bed situated against the west wall of the room. The coverings of the bed were white, but the pillows located at the head of the bed were all different shapes, sizes, and colors. There had to be at least twenty of them, but none of them — Haruka noticed — were _just quite dark enough_ to be on par with the dark purple curtains that lined the sides of the bed.

The curtains hanging around the bed, enclosing the piece of furniture in their rich purple grasp, were long and hanged from the ceiling. Upon allowing his blue hues to follow the purple decorations upward, Haruka found his eyebrows raising in a mix of both surprise and delight. A_ window_— there was an open window built into the high ceiling of the room.

_That explains why none of the torches are lit,_ The boy thought to himself, glancing around at all the dead torches in the room that were positioned on stand-by, ready to be lit only when the sun set and they were needed. This was the first room Haruka had seen that didn't always need lit torches; the first room that wasn't filled with a smoky, musky smell from the burning objects, but rather an exotic scent that he couldn't name.

_Smells funny,_ Haru thought, wrinkling his nose as the new smell invaded his nostrils. The smell was new and strange, but just because he was wrinkling his nose didn't mean he didn't find himself liking it. The scent was just..._ strong._

"Oi, quit standing there and come on— you'll have more time to look around later," Rin called after Haruka, catching the boy's attention. He looked to find the Prince standing just beside a tall, burgundy colored vase, an open door posed in front of him that lead into another room. The taller male's lips were pulled together, one of his eyebrows raised— he looked like he was growing slightly impatient. Haruka took that as his cue to hurry up.

"Ah, right," Haru mumbled as he moved to follow the Prince, turning and entering into the other room, moving at his own pace. As he stepped inside he grunted, finding that the floor of this room was covered in stones, which he didn't find very pleasant. As the sound of his grunt, Rin raised an eyebrow, glancing back at the boy. "Oi— what's wrong?" He asked. Haruka grunted again, shifting his feet. Rin cast his red hues downwards.

"Oh," The Prince mumbled, catching sight of Haruka's bare feet, dirty and slightly bruised. Haruka nodded, glad the Prince had come to understand so easily, and Rin frowned, pulling his eyes back up towards Haruka's face.

"Hang on a second," The Prince said with a concerned edge to his tone before continuing forward, approaching a darkly-colored tub in the center of the room. He went around to the back of the tub and opened what appeared to be a small chest, reaching inside and pulling out a pair of small, off-white pieces of material. He then moved back around to the other side of the tub, Haruka following his movements and frowning.

"And these are...?" Haru asked as the Prince held the pair of what-cha-ma-jigs out to him, taking them and examining them, his frown rooting ever-deeper into his face. Rin laughed at Haru's confused, slightly worried look. "They're slippers, but special ones," Rin said, holding up an index finger as his eyes shut and he proudly stated, "One of my mother's creations— one size fits all. They just stretch to cover your feet. Try them on."

Slowly taking in the Prince's words, Haruka nodded. He slipped out of the supposed "slippers" into his pocket temporarily, using his thumbs to begin to stretch out the other. Raising his right foot, Haru slipped the first slipper on, adjusting it slightly on his foot before lowering his leg back down. He wiggled his toes inside the slipper, blue hues staring in wonder down at the once small-but-now-much-bigger piece of material. "Comfy..." He mused quietly.

Rin laughed, turning away from the boy. "And perfect for walking on these stones, believe it or not. You can keep them. Now, hurry up and put the other one on. You _do_ have to run my bath," Rin said and Haruka grunted, glaring ever so slightly at the Prince's back as he retreated, moving back over to the other side of the tub and beginning to strip. The black-haired "assistant" pulled his eyes away from the Prince as the white robe he'd been casually wearing over his torso slipped off his shoulders, falling to the ground.

_I should've known there'd be a catch like this by how he was dressed,_ Haru thought as he took the second slipper out of his pocket, slipping it onto his left foot and, like the first, fixing it to his liking. _What royal would walk around like that all day?_ He questioned, though really he didn't know anything about royalty. Except that a slice of all of their personalities could simply be defined as _"spoiled"_ apparently. Maybe _"bossy"_ too.

Making his way over towards the bath, Haruka glanced around briefly before coming to understand what he was supposed to do. There was a small string hanging down from the ceiling, which Haru noted was significantly lower than the ceiling of what he would assume was the Prince's neighboring bedroom. There was also a tunnel very similiar to the ones running through the various walls of the palace, except bigger and outside of the wall, running down into the bath, hovering just above the tub's outer rim, barely peeking over it. Once he pulled the string, water would come sliding down into the bath via the tunnel. Or at least... that's what he was assuming.

And he was right. Haru pulled the string and out came the water, gushing down the tunnelway from an unknown source which, as the water flowed, Haruka found himself looking around for. When he couldn't find the source of the water, he sighed, disappointed._ This palace makes no sense._

"Good— you've got some common sense," Rin smirked upon seeing that Haruka had the right idea about how to fill up the bath, grinning as he slowly stepped into the water. He sat, sinking down into the quickly filling tub, and Haru found himself glad to be able to look at the Prince once more. He wasn't sure if servants were _supposed_ to stare at the royal Prince's dangly bits or _what_. The Prince himself sure didn't seem to mind putting it out there in front of just anybody, however.

"There's some shampoo and soap in that little chest I got the slippers from," The Prince said as he relaxed in the tub, laying back against it's edge and spreading out his arms, letting them line the bath's outer perimeter. Haruka glanced at the darkly colored chest in question, taking in the delicate decorations carved into it, before nodding. He flipped the top of the chest up, opening the small storage space successfully, and reached inside, pulling out a small bottle that was labelled _"SHAM"_ and another labelled _"SOAP."_ He carefully shut the chest back, opting to sit atop it's closed lid, as the chest was located directly behind the Prince.

Haru looked down at the back of the Prince's head, trying to recall the last time he'd washed his hair with actual shampoo and not just water as he took the bottle labelled _"SHAM"_ in hand. _Well, here goes nothing, _He thought.

But oh, there went _everything_. There went the shampoo _everywhere—_ in the Prince's hair, in his eyes and at one point even inside his ears. Rin grunted as some of the shampoo slid into his eyes, causing them to sting and burn, and he cursed._ "The hell?!"_

Then there was the soap deal— Haru did an alright job with the Prince's upper half, but later went on to attempt to clean his lower half, causing Rin to freak out, then, too. "I said before that you didn't have to bathe_ all_ of me! I can handle the rest from here!" He insisted, snatching the bottle of soap out of Haruka's hands, his face tinted red.

Needless to say, the Prince's bath didn't go over smashingly— Rin was annoyed afterwards and Haruka felt underappreciated. Hey— he was _trying_. Kind of.

"I think I'm going blind," Rin muttered as he moved back into his room, a towel wrapped around his waist and Haru following behind him. He rubbed at his eyes and behind him Haru scowled. "I didn't know what I was doing. When do you think the last time I had a proper bath was?" The slightly agitated servant asked, causing Rin to cast a scrunched up face his way. "Ew."

**—**

Next came breakfast.

"Nitori wrote down what I usually eat for breakfast here," The Prince said some time later, officially dressed for the day. Haruka blinked, looking down at the small wooden tablet Rin was holding out and taking it from the Prince as it was offered to him. He looked it over, reading through the small message at the very top of the paper pinned into the wood, skimming over the section labelled _"Breakfast."_

"Okay," Haru muttered, proceeding to look over the rest of the messages on the tablet just briefly before glancing back up at the Prince. "Are you not coming?" He asked. Rin shook his head, grinning. "Nah. I hate to say it, but our family doesn't eat together, except for my parents. We don't even have a dining hall," The Prince stated, shrugging his shoulders like it was no big deal. Haruka raised an eyebrow before quietly muttering, "Oh."

"Yeah, it's whatever. Oh, but hey— here." Haruka watched as the Prince turned, moving over towards a small desk located on the far side of the room. He picked something up from atop the wooden surface, turning and offering it to Haruka. The servant grunted, moving across the room to approach the Prince. Once in front of the taller male, he reached out, taking the small slip of paper and looking over it, as well.

"It's blank," Haruka said, not at all sounding amused, but Rin laughed. "It's okay. I've already had a message sent out telling everyone that Nitori is on holiday and that someone new will be taking his place for a few days, but this is in case they forgot and decide to give you trouble."

Rin reached out, pointing at the top, right hand corner of the slip he'd handed Haruka. There was a red **"R"** stamped there, followed by some handwritten scribble. Haruka frowned, not sure what he was supposed to make of this. "What is it?" He asked, not liking the feeling of being so... _out of the loop._

"It's special stationary only I have. Show anyone who tries to bother you or doubts that you're working for me this and they'll let you off the hook. Also, feel free to ask for some breakfast for yourself, too. You haven't eaten yet, have you?" Rin asked, smiling down at the boy. Haruka shook his head, inviting Rin's smile to widen, the expression spreading across his face like wildfire. He'd already forgotten Haru's bad-bathing mishaps from before, it seemed. _Must be that sort of guy,_ Haruka thought. _Forgiving. Or maybe just careless._

"So get yourself some grub. I won't mind," Rin said, only to be immediately rejected in his kindness, his offer turned down. "Not hungry," Haru said dully. Rin flinched, his eyebrow twitching ever so slightly.

**—**

"Okay, Haru. Our big thing for the day is seeing off the girls that came for the bridal selection yesterday, okay? It was actually supposed to be a big day to celebrate my choosing of a bride, but... Well, shit happens, yeah?"

Haruka nodded, watching as the Prince laughed like his whole nearly drowning — or at the very least getting her angry — a Princess the day before was nothing if not funny.

Rin nodded, quieting himself and his laughter as he grinned, pointing at the tablet he'd given Haru earlier, which the boy had done right to have not let go of yet. "I want you to take notes. You're filling in for Nitori during a crucial time, what with a bridal selection having just taken place, and now that they're planning to throw me another one in the future, so I want there to be thorough notes on the subject. So take plenty of them, okay?"

"Okay," Haruka nodded. The Prince smiled.

**—**

"_Haru!_ These aren't _notes_!" Rin exclaimed some hours later, after they had seen the brides off, he'd joked around with his sister for a while, and they'd had lunch. Actually, they were in the middle of dinner already, sitting in Rin's bedroom at a small table used only for meals, it seemed.

"What the hell is this?" Rin asked, frowning as he held up the tablet Haru was supposed to have been taking notes on earlier when they saw off the girls brought in to possibly be chosen as his bride the day before. The blue-eyed servant turned away from his bowl of rice, looking at what was being held out before him.

On the tablet was a picture he had drawn earlier in the day when he was supposed to be "taking notes." It was a rather detailed drawing of the Bahr, which he could remember very crisply in his mind and had found much more fascinating than the girls from the day before.

"The Bahr," Haru answered simply after taking a moment to look over his work, nodding his head in approval. He'd done well. Rin groaned, dropping the tablet down onto the table between them.

"I know it's the Bahr!" The Prince said, causing Haruka to frown. "Then why did you ask?" He questioned. Rin grunted and sighed, sitting back as he covered his face.

"Nevermind why I asked," The Prince mumbled, moving his hand away from his eyes so he could glance over at Haru. "Why didn't _you_ do _as I asked_?" He questioned, frowning. Haruka took a moment to consider the answer to this, chopsticks already pinching at another clump of rice from his bowl, before he shrugged, raising the white bits to his mouth. Rin scowled.

"You're my assistant for the next few days— you're supposed to do _what I say_!" The Prince scolded Haruka, feeling rather insulted for having not been listened to. Everyone_ always_ did as he asked— _always_. Haruka shrugged again, not seeing why the cerise haired male was having a fit, and Rin groaned, resting his elbow against the table as he looked over towards a tarp hanging on the wall. _"Nitori would've done it,"_ He mumbled under his breath.

And at another end of the palace, sitting in his own room and trying to figure out what he was supposed to _do_ with his life the next couple of days, Rin's silver-haired former assistant sneezed.

"Bless me!"

**[CHAPTER EIGHT: "HOW THEY CLASHED." END]**

* * *

Okay, so it still wasn't all that groovy, but hopefully it was better than last chapter! And speaking of: seven, eight... This fic has been going a couple of weeks now and I kind of feel like I need to get to know you guys; hopefully we'll be together a long while. So, actually, I have a few questions! Don't worry; nothing hard. Just standard questions asked out of curiosity. I'll answer them, too, naturally.

One and Two, too: Who is your favorite character in the anime? Who's your favorite character in this? I'm asking because, aside from genuine curiosity, I realized earlier that, while my favorite in the anime is Rin, I like Haruka the most in this fic. I know the second question might be kind of hard because a lot of characters haven't gotten a lot of time to shine, but I'm hoping _someone at least_ has taken a particular shine to Rei or Nagisa or Gou or whoever. Anyway, that was that.

Number Three: What did you guys think about Episode 5? Is there anything you want out of next episode in particular? To be honest... Um... Well...

I don't have any not-typical things to say about the episode, but I _do _have something I want from the next one. If you look when Rei goes out to sea by himself and when he's drowning and all, you'll see _a lot _of lights towards the lodges are still on. This leads me to think _a lot _of people are still up. And I hope next episode — with all my heart — that _at some point _they jump to, let's say, Rin and Nitori wherever they're staying.

And Nitori is looking out the window and says something like, I don't know, _"Wow, it looks like a bad storm, huh, Matsuoka-senpai?" _And Rin can respond however. Like, he agrees or looks out the window at the beach or starts to worry/hope the others stopped swimming early because, hey— at this point he's probably assuming that, since Gou is staying in a lodge, they are too, but they _aren't. __They'll be in danger and he won't even know._

_..._I'm sorry. Lol I love angst and shit. Bye-bye now!


	9. All About Prince Rin

I hope this is better than the last two chapters, because they have sucked.

**Summary:** —

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Free! Iwatobi Swim Club._**

* * *

**[CHAPTER NINE: "ALL ABOUT PRINCE RIN."]**

"Good morning."

Prince Rin blinked, staring increduously at the black-haired servant boy standing just outside the door to his bedroom. _He came to meet me earlier than yesterday morning,_ The male thought to himself, giving the boy a once-over. _Above that, he even came to my room today; I didn't have to go meet him._

"Good morning," The red-haired Prince returned the early morning greeting, slowly stepping to the side, pulling the door to his bedroom open wider and allowing Haruka to enter into the room. The shorter male brushed past him and Rin couldn't help but notice that something was off about the boy, watching him intently as he slowly shut the door behind Haru.

"You're early," Rin commented, tucking his hands into the sleeves of the white robe he wore every morning before bathing. In front of him, Haru shrugged.

"I remembered how to get here, so I thought I should save you the trouble of coming to meet me," The blue-eyed male explained, already proceeding to move over towards the door to Rin's personal bathing room. The Prince watched him go, eyeing Haruka's back. _I know I don't know him that well, but he seems really... strange today,_ The Prince noted before proceeding to follow his temporary assistant. _What gives?_ He wondered, frowning.

"Oi, Haru—" Rin called out as he entered into the smaller room after said young adult, stripping out of his robes, red hues never leaving his companion. "Is something wrong?" He asked, letting his robe drop to the floor before slowly stepping into the tub at the center of the room just as Haruka pulled the string that ran the bath.

The Prince dropped down into the bath, the warm water feeling good against the bottoms of his feet and the curve of his rearend as he slowly reclined back against the tub, stretching his arms out across it's edge, as was a habit of his. He didn't watch the boy now; Haru was already rummaging around in the chest just behind where he sat. He heard the chest shut, then some more rummaging and the shifting of Haru's clothes as the slightly younger boy proceeded to sit atop the chest much the same way he had the morning before.

"Not really," Haruka answered dully, reaching out and cupping some of the water from the Prince's bath into his hands before slowly and carefully bringing his hands back up, not wanting the water to spill. "Close your eyes," He told Rin, who let his eyes fall shut just as the black-haired servant seated behind him seperated his hands, letting the water once cupped inside both his palms pour over the Prince's head. Rin grunted, flicking a particularly annoying chunk of hair out from between his eyes. He hated that piece of hair; it always did that, even under the influence of such a minimal amount of water.

Ironically enough, just as the cerise-haired Prince was thinking this, Haruka was coming to a similiar conclusion. _It did that yesterday, too, didn't it?_ The boy thought, distantly recalling the Prince doing that very same flicking movement just as they had gotten started, flipping his hair out of his face. _Must be normal for him,_ Haruka thought, shrugging to himself as he reached back down and repeated his previous actions, pouring handfuls of water over the Prince's head two, three more times before his repetitive actions ceased.

Then he proceeded to reach down onto the floor just beside the small chest he was seated upon, picking up the shampoo bottled he'd fished out of the chest previously, leaving the soap bottle where it was for now. He had just unscrewed the cap of the bottle, pouring some into his left hand, when the Prince spoke again.

"I'm not mad anymore, you know," Rin mumbled, finding the silence in the room awkward. Granted— yesterday they'd made very little small-talk at this point, but then the lack of sound had been comfortable, peaceful even. Now it was just weird and annoying, which he found he rather disliked. "You don't have to be so distant."

Sure, he had been angry with Haru when they'd parted ways the evening before, but only because he was a Prince who was used to getting what he wanted and, well— Haru hadn't given him what he had wanted. _Okay, so I turned into a jerk,_ Rin admitted to himself, frowning. He hated having to admit he was slightly spoiled; _slightly._

"Okay," Haru replied from behind Rin, beginning to lather up the Prince's hair with the shampoo he'd just gotten out of it's bottle, and the purplish-red haired son of royalty broke free of his thoughts, then heaved a small sigh. _Maybe he's the one that's still mad,_ Rin theorized to himself, closing his eyes once more as he felt the boy behind him beginning to wash his hair.

"Try not to get any in my eyes or ears," The Prince instructed, definitely not wanting a redo of the day before. Haruka nodded, allowing his hands to pause in their actions just long enough to nod the Prince's head, too, just so the quiet message got across. Rin grunted quietly and then both males proceeded to allow themselves to fall into silence which, on Haruka's part, had been the goal all along. Rin never did get to see the way Haru watched him so intently in these moments of silence.

—

"Oi— you actually got yourself something this morning?" Rin asked about half an hour after he'd seen Haru off to get breakfast, red hues eyeing the plate of food in Haruka's left hand, as well as the plate in his right. The servant boy nodded, stepping into the room and moving over to the small table the Prince used for meals. "Yes," He said quietly, crouching down and placing both his and the Prince's food down on the appropriate sides of the table before folding his legs under himself, sitting.

Rin raised an eyebrow, but moved to sit across the table from Haruka, bending and situating himself in a similiar fashion. The two picked up their eating utensils, slowly beginning to eat; falling back into a seemingly never-ending, all-nerve-racking silence. The Prince groaned.

"Can we _not_ do this again? This silence is torture; learn to speak up!" Rin exclaimed, scowling across the table at Haruka, who frowned, his eyebrow furrowing. "I can't. I'm concentrating," The blue-eyed boy said, causing Rin to scowl once more. "On what?" He questioned, to which Haru then went on holding up his chopsticks, which were just then pinching a piece of sausage between their wooden tips. Rin eyed the piece of food and sighed, popping a piece of the sausage on his own plate into his mouth and beginning to chew.

"Whatever," The Prince mumbled, looking off to the side at a tarp on the wall much the same way he had done the evening before during dinner. He continued to eat all the sausage off his plate, finishing it first before moving onto some rice located on the edge of his plate. Haru watched the Prince from his seat, eating his own food quietly. _The rice tastes a little underdone this morning..._

—

"What are your plans for the day?" Haruka finally spoke up first, glancing over at the Prince, who walked just a hair or two in front of him. Rin shrugged, one of the two ends of the turban wrapped around his head falling off his shoulder, hanging down his back. The two were making their way down the corridor that the Prince and his sister, Princess Gou, mostly lived in, heading back to the throne room, it seemed. _The root of all royal activity,_ Haruka thought. He'd been there more times in the three days than he had been anywhere else, save for his own quarters and the stables to see Baa-chan.

"Not a lot," Rin shrugged his shoulders. "Right now we're headed to see my Otou-san. I haven't seen him in a few days." Haruka raised his eyebrow.

_Is the royal family that distant from each other that they go days without seeing one another?_ He wondered, thinking back to his own family. _We saw each other every day. Every single day. But then again..._ They hadn't been rich royalty. They didn't have a mansion to wander throughout and be distant from each other in, merely coexisting with each other— let alone one of this size.

"It's okay if you think it's weird; for us it's normal," Rin piped as he opened the door to the throne room, stepping through the doorway and beckoning Haru to follow. The servant boy did, glancing around briefly before pulling his attention to the King and Queen's thrones, situated upon the rulers' of Firdous' own little platform. Haruka raised his eyebrows.

The King wasn't seated upon his throne today, either. Haruka frowned just briefly before his face levelled out again as Rin stepped forward, grunting.

"Okaa-san, where's Otou-san?" The cerise-haired Prince asked, approaching the platform and proceeding to ascend up the stairs leading up to said structure. The Queen looked upon her son as he approached, slowly giving a soft smile and raising her hand, allowing him to slip his hand into her's as he stopped in front of her. Rin squeezed his mother's paler, daintier hand, seeking answers that the Queen was ready and willing to give.

"I'm afraid he still isn't feeling good, dear," The red-haired Queen said, gently pulling her son to sit against the arm of her throne. He let himself be moved, slowly perching himself atop the branch of furniture as he looked down at his mother, frowning. "This is the third day," Rin said in a sort of mumble, looking rather upset. The Queen offered up what was meant to be a comforting smile to her son — though she was rather unhappy about her husband's feeling ill, as well — and reached up, cupping his cheek.

"I know. We've got the family doctor looking at him now. Do you want to go see how it's going?" The Queen asked her son quietly, who gave a small grunt and, briefly, glanced over at Haruka. The servant met his eyes just for a moment, then the Prince looked away once more, casting his red gaze back down at his mother and mumbling a small, _"Yes."_ The Queen smiled again and nodded, slowly standing, never letting go of her son's hand.

"Haruka, I'm afraid servants aren't allowed inside the King's Quarters, so feel free to take a break. I know my son can be a handful," The Queen joked, offering Haru a smile as her son scowled and began to pull her down the stairs gently, wanting to go see his father.

"I am not, Okaa-san," The Prince mumbled as though he were a pouting child. The Queen laughed, throwing up a wave to Haruka as the pair of royals exited the room, which the black-haired servant boy returned briefly before allowing his hand to drop. Haru looked around.

_What do I do now?_

—

_"Examine the tunnels"_ was what Haruka did then. And he continued to do this before finally deciding he'd had his fill of the small waterways, then he decided to head to his room. What else could he do?

Haru napped all morning, finding that the breakfast he'd previously consumed —being full for once — really helped him to fall asleep faster than normal. He did, however, wake up just a few minutes shy of noon, emerging from his room to go and see if the Prince was ready to eat lunch. He himself wasn't hungry — he was too used to his mealtimes being far apart from each other — but he would go and see whether or not the Prince was.

Except the Prince wasn't in the throne room when Haru passed through it, nor his own bedroom. This left Haru stumped and the boy frowned and slowly turned around, retreating back to his room. He'd been ditched. _Well, whatever._ He'd come back to check at dinner.

—

"Here."

Haruka sat down the Prince's dinner in front of him— a large bowl of rice with slices of what appeared to be chicken situated just against the white mountain's side, sprinkled with some foreign herb Haru didn't recognize. The Prince stared down at the food, slowly thanking Haru and picking up his chopsticks as his assistant sat down across from him, plateless. Rin raised an eyebrow.

"You didn't get any food?" The Prince asked, raising some rice to his mouth and eating it. Across from him, Haruka shook his head, simply stating, "I ate breakfast, so that one meal should be enough until tomorrow."

Rin nodded, supposing that the boy must have been used to not having a lot of food, as many meals as he did. "Okay," He said, letting the subject drop and expecting the two of them to fall back into an awkward silence. Haruka got him this time, however, as he spoke up, asking, "How's the King? Do they know what's wrong?"

"He..." Rin paused, glancing up at Haruka to find the boy staring back at him, blinking slowly as he awaited the Prince's answer. The cerise-haired male raised his eyebrows, genuinely surprised that Haru was the one starting a conversation between them, but soon he cleared his throat, getting over the shock. He lowered his chopsticks down to his bowl, his surprised look dissolving into a disheartened expression.

"Otou-san and Okaa-san don't sleep in the same chambers, so Okaa-san hasn't been aware of it, but... The doctor said Otou-san very recently started taking the wrong doses of his daily medicine."

Haruka raised an eyebrow. Did that mean... "Overdose?" The boy asked, causing Rin to sigh, shaking his head a little. "Not exactly. The doctor said that it looks as though he's been forgetting how much he's supposed to take every day; at times he's taken more than he was supposed to, yes, but other times he's taken a lot less than he should have. It's because of his bad memory," Rin explained, sounding rather displeased. Haruka nodded.

"How old is the King, might I ask?" Haru questioned, noticing the way Rin's breath hitched and the Prince's red hues briefly shot up to look at him before shooting back down to the bowl of rice between the male's hands just as quickly. "...Fifty-five," Rin mumbled. Haruka's eyebrows raised ever-higher. _He's in his mid-fifties and is already having memory problems? That's awful._

As if he could hear Haruka's thoughts, the Prince scowled. "Don't think lowly of him just because a few screws are coming loose. I won't stand for you insulting my father," Rin said firmly, causing Haruka to nod. "I won't."

"Good," Rin mumbled, his mood officially ruined now that they'd talked about his Otou-san— as if he'd even been in a good mood to begin with today.

The two finally dropped into their third awkward silence that day, Rin eating while Haruka sat and watched. Then the boy was slowly reaching into his pocket, taking out a crumpled up piece of paper and a slightly chewed up old pencil. He unfolded the paper, smoothening it out and laying it on the table as he began to write. The Prince caught sight of his movements and frowned, looking up from his food. "Oi— what are you doing? What is that?" He asked. Haru glanced up at him.

"Notes," The shorter male said, looking back down as he continued to scribble some words down. Rin blinked. _You've gotta be kidding me..._ "Notes?" He repeated, leaning forward to get a better look. "Notes on_ what?_" He asked, reaching out to take the piece of paper with these supposed "notes" on it in hand. Haru, however, slowly slid the paper closer to himself, effectively getting it out of the Prince's reach.

"Prince Rin," Haruka answered, drawing a not so straight horizontal line across the page. At the bottom he scribbled some more and had just finished writing his own name out as the taker of the notes when Rin leaned forward again, this time going farther than the time before, and snatched the piece of paper out of Haru's grasp. The servant boy frowned, finding the action incredibly rude. "Hey," He protested. Rin held up a hand, reading.

The Prince's eyebrows raised.

_BATH TIME _  
_-has one piece of hair he wishes death upon _  
_-four earrings in left ear, one in right _  
_-never takes off his jewelry, even during baths _  
_-doesn't mind showing everyone his p— but don't try to touch it _  
_-it's not actually that impressive_

Rin's face flushed and he scowled, looking at Haruka to find the boy eating a piece of the chicken from his bowl. When the blue-eyed servant caught him looking, he held the piece of meat up by his fingers. "Snack," The boy said monotonously.

Rin grunted, turning back to the piece of paper in his hand, his cheeks still painted red. _I dare him to try and tell me his is bigger,_ He thought in regards to Haruka's fifth note listed. _I come from royalty._ He thought proudly, as if that mattered in regards to such a thing, before proceeding to read on.

_BREAKFAST_  
_-hates silences _  
_-eats one thing at a time _  
_-think he might be obsessive-compulsive_

Rin scoffed._ I am not,_ He thought just as he brought another bit of rice to his mouth, refusing to eat the chicken in his bowl yet and instead just working around it.

_OKAA-SAN_  
_-looks to her for answers and comfort _  
_-very tan in comparison to her paleness _  
_-looks like her in the face, don't know about the King_

_I don't have too many problems with this bit,_ Rin thought, deciding he could continue on. Those three seemed to be correct enough.

_LUNCH_  
_-doesn't always show up _  
_-ditched me, probably on purpose_

Rin quirked an eyebrow, smirking. _So he came around looking for me, huh?_ He thought, slowly moving his hand to cup his bowl and moving it blindly to the center of the table just as Haruka reached for a second piece of chicken. He read on, beginning to read the second to last section, which appeared to be a bit newer._ Probably part of what he was just scribbling over there,_ Rin commented, starting to read it.

_DINNER_  
_-doesn't mind I'm not eating _  
_-still eating one thing at a time_

And finally, the last section, which made Rin frown and his stomach drop.

_OTOU-SAN_  
_-worried about _  
_-don't ask too much or he'll get depressed _  
_-really admires him, I think_

Rin allowed his red hues to scan over the last section a second time before looking over at Haru. Suddenly he looked calmer, less worked up by the boy's list his "notes."

"Haru..." The Prince mumbled, "...why did you write all this?" He asked. Haruka shrugged, standing up and stretching ever so slightly.

"I made you angry yesterday. Then I told Rei about it and he got mad, too, and said I should try and make it up to you. You wanted me to take notes; there are your notes," Haru explained. Rin raised an eyebrow. "Rei?" He repeated, briefly taking the time to think about who _"Rei"_ was. When he finally recalled, remembering the glasses-wearing guard vaguely from having seen him around the palace several times, he nodded. "But wait..." Rin pulled his lips together tightly.

"Why would you do what_ he_ said and not what _I_ asked of you?" The Prince questioned, frowning. What was a simple palace guard when put up against a Prince such as himself? He watched the servant boy in question shrug again. "He takes me to see my camel," Haruka stated.

Rin's entire being froze, the Prince's eyebrows raising as high as they possibly could, and Haruka shifted slightly, finding the male's expression strange. "May I be dismissed?" He asked, inwardly scowling. Rin slowly nodded and Haruka returned the nod, saying his goodbyes as he exited out of the Prince's room, shutting the door behind him. Rin looked back down at Haru's notes, his bottom lip quivering.

And he laughed. And he laughed, and he laughed, and he laughed.

_Haru... you're... you're..._ Rin shook his head, unable to help himself as he threw it back, his turban managing to fly off his head and onto the floor as tears pricked at his eyes.

_"You're unbelievable!"_ Rin exclaimed, and on the other side of the door, unable to help but to hear the Prince's laughter, Haruka frowned.

"I am an honest man," He said, huffing as he walked off, going on his way. How dare he.

**[CHAPTER NINE: "ALL ABOUT PRINCE RIN." END]**

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Well, guys? Was it better than Chapters 7 and 8? I sure hope so. Also, speaking of chapters, Chapter 10 should be up tomorrow — you have no idea who excited I am for it, 11 and 12 — and another goal of mine for tomorrow is actually going to be editing all the chapters that have been published so far. Just fixing what's messed up; minor changes. So if you guys see anything in this chapter that should be fixed, please let me know either in your review — if you were planning on reviewing anyway — or a PM! Thanks! PuddinPie outttt.


	10. Back Into the City

118 reviews... This fic has _118 reviews _as I publish this. Oh my _gosh. That's crazy._ To me, anyway.

To all those of you who have reviewed, thank you so much! I hope you'll keep reading on and I hope everyone likes this chapter, because I personally feel more confident about publishing it than I have the last few! Sorry for the lack of Rin screentime! (to those who have seen Episode 6, hey— doesn't that sound familiar?)

**Summary: **—

**Warnings: **The note at the bottom of this chap has spoilers for those who haven't seen Episode 6. (I got a PM asking to put these sorts of warnings, too, lol.)

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Free! Iwatobi Swim Club. _Thanks!**

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**[CHAPTER TEN: "BACK INTO THE CITY."]**

"Oi, Haru— How about the way I hold my chopsticks? My eating face? Or how I save the best for last? _Hm, hm?_"

Haruka's eyebrow twitched._ Here we go again for the twelfth time today,_ The boy thought and let out an aggravated sigh, lowering his chopsticks back down to rest against the rim of his bowl of rice. _How annoying._

"What about it? What does all that have to do with anything?" The servant boy asked, shutting his eyes so he wouldn't have to catch the Prince's gaze and proceeding to pretend that he didn't know what Rin was up to, even though he knew full well just what he was trying to do.

The Prince had been doing this all day— pointing out little things about himself as if Haru was going to start a new sheet of notes about the sharp-toothed heir to the throne of Firdous again today, as he had the day before. He had pointed out how he walked, how _hey— one of his earrings was bigger than the rest_, and he'd even been the one to point out his abnormally sharp teeth, which Haruka couldn't_ believe_ he hadn't noticed until they'd been pointed out to him. Those things were like miniature saws sticking out of the taller, tanner male's gums, just waiting to tear into something. They were _creepy._

"Oh, you know," Rin grinned, seated across the table from Haru for the third time that day; they were eating dinner already. "I'm a Prince. Don't you want to know everything about me? You should be writing this down; I'm a very fascinating person. Don't you want to learn all that you can about your future King?" The Prince said with a proud grin, one that screamed_, "I'm so cool." _Haruka scowled.

"The only thing I've learned today is how freakishly sharp your teeth are. It might be a good thing you didn't choose a bride; I'd hate for her to have to kiss a mouth with teeth like that," Haruka commented, trying to be a bit insulting to get Rin off his case, and the Prince's face flushed ever so slightly. He scowled.

"I'll have you know I've had plenty of women after me before, all of which have commented on how superior my kissing skills are compared to most men's. So chew on that!" Rin exclaimed and grunted, eating a bit of his rice. Haruka raised an eyebrow.

"Women? Women from where— I thought they were no women in this palace, except for your mother and Princess Gou?" The blue-eyed servant asked, frowning a bit. Rin laughed, though to Haru it sounded more like he was scoffing. "_Please_," The Prince drawled, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the wooden table that they were seated at as he tossed a smirk Haru's way. "There are girls in the town of Firdous, you know. Gorgeous ones, even if they aren't nearly as rich as I am. There are some handsome men, too. _They_ happen to like my kissing, as well as my package, so don't go commenting on _that,_ either."

Haruka really had to raise an eyebrow now, the dark line of hair going as high as it could possibly go. "_What?_" He questioned, ignoring Rin's comment about his little _"it's not that impressive"_ note the day before. The Prince swung both ways? Is that what he was supposed to have gotten out of that comment? If it wasn't, well _hell— _Prince Rin sure didn't know how to choose his words carefully.

_That smirk of his says it all, though. He's been with women, as well as men,_ Haru thought, eyeing the Prince, who was smirking down at his bowl of rice, having gone back to eating after giving Haruka something he thought would make the boy eat his words.

Haruka slowly reached down and took his chopsticks back in hand, pinching at some rice and raising the white clump to his mouth. _I wonder if that's even allowed?_ He thought, taking the food from his chopsticks and chewing the white bits. Were princes allowed to be anything but heterosexual? Wouldn't that interfere with how their people saw them and what not? Haru really couldn't help but wonder. So he asked.

"Is a prince allowed to be like that? Bisexual, I mean," Haruka questioned, shifting his blue hues to look up towards the Prince. He thought he saw Rin's right hand flinch, but aside from that the Prince merely laughed again, raising his head to look at his assistant. "They are if no one important knows," Came the red-haired male's response, smug and secretive. He tossed a_ "You better not tell,"_ sort of look Haruka's way, one that the black-haired male gave a slow nod in response to, the message getting across. Rin grinned, finishing up his rice and standing from the table.

"You can take the dishes back to the workers in the kitchen once you finish eating. I also have something else for you to deliever; something special," The Prince said, moving over towards his desk. Haru blinked, glancing up at the male, watching his movements. "Something special?" He repeated.

The Prince's covered head nodded and Haruka watched Rin reach into one of his desk's drawers, pulling out a sheet of paper and a pencil. Rin braced the paper against the surface of his desk, scribbling something onto it. Haru didn't know what he was writing, but he made quick work of whatever it was, and soon enough he was dropping the pencil back into the desk drawer he'd fished it out of. Rin turned to him, folding the paper in half.

"I need you to take this to Nitori. His room is closer to the servants quarters; once you leave the throne room from the door located between the fourth and fifth torches, go right instead of straight. His room is the third door on the right. Don't ask him what this says and don't read it before you get there; I'll explain it to you later."

Haruka raised an eyebrow, slowly lowering his chopsticks. The two small wooden utensils clicked against his empty bowl as he stood, bringing the blue dish up with him. He walked around the table he was seated at, reaching down and putting Rin's bowl under his, slipping the Prince's used chopsticks into his bowl on top, right beside his own. Then he headed over to said cerise-haired male, stopping just in front of the Prince and taking the small slip of paper as Rin offered it. He looked it over briefly, taking it it's blank, white back, and then tucked the note into his pocket, making sure to push it down deep so it wouldn't fall out. _Seems important,_ he noted.

"Anything else?" Haruka asked, looking up to the Prince, who was only an inch or so taller than him. Rin's red hues scanned over Haru's face before he shook his head and he grinned, reaching out and slapping Haruka half-heartedly on the shoulder. "Nah, now get going."

Haruka nodded, turning and making his way to the door. Rin watched him go, his arms folded into his sleeves. _I hope Ni's still eating,_ he thought as he watched Haruka leave, then he glanced around, trying to decide what to do while Haru was gone.

Meanwhile, Haruka distantly found himself wondering why_ he_ had to give Nitori a message; why couldn't Rin? _He'd be much happier to see him than me, I'm sure,_ Haru thought to himself in reference to Nitori, quietly excusing himself as he opened the door at the end of the corridor, which was home to the Prince and Princess's private kitchen.

The head chef turned to him, offering him a happy grin and a greeting, and Haru quietly returned the hello though held back on the laugh, handing over his and Rin's dirty dishes. The cook took them, thanking Haru all the while, and handed them off to another staff member within just a few seconds of receiving them. He then waved Haru goodbye as the boy left, shutting the door back behind himself. He'd realized on the very first day that he disliked coming to see the cook. Why, he didn't know. _Too chipper._

Okay, so maybe he_ did_ know why.

Next came Nitori. Haruka didn't see anything too complicated about the directions Rin had given him and he found himself standing just in front of the door he assumed would lead him into the silver-haired boy's bedroom in no time. The door itself was plain, but just beside it, carved into the wall, was a large **"P"** followed by a slightly smaller** "A."**

_PA?_ Haruka repeated to himself, wondering what the initials stood for. It was only after he'd knocked on the door and heard Nitori call from the other side,_ "Coming!"_ that the letters' meaning came to him. _Prince's Assistant._

"Hello?" The door in front of Haruka opened to reveal Nitori — big surprise there — standing in the doorway, dressed in a light yellow gown. The boy's eyes were lined with red circles and Haruka couldn't help but take notice of them. _Has he been crying?_ Haru wondered. _It sure looks like it..._

"Um, can I help you?" Nitori mumbled, frowning as he noticed the older boy staring intently at him. Haruka blinked, letting his eyes zoom out from the boy's red eyes, allowing them to focus on the boy's face as a whole. He nodded, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the note Rin had slipped him before. "The Prince wanted me to give you this," He said, offering it out to the shorter boy, who stared at it, wide-eyed.

Nitori's lower lip shook and he slowly reached out, taking the note into his hands. Haru watched as he unfolded it, the boy's bright blue hues reading across the scribble that Haruka could just barely make out through the thin paper. He briefly found himself wondering just what that messy scribble said, thinking to himself, _"Even I can write neater than that."_ Then the boy in front of him gave a little sob, a choking noise, and Haruka frowned.

"Is something wrong?" Haru asked, only to look and find Nitori smiling. The silver-haired assistant-on-vacation shook his head, his smile growing wider and wider by the second as he pressed the note to his chest, clearly very happy. "No," The boy said and gave a laugh, reaching up and wiping at the corner of one of his eyes. "I'm sorry," He apologized, laughing again. "I was just so scared he would forget," He admitted, though when he never hinted as to _what_ he had been scared the Prince would forget, Haru was forced to ask.

"Forget what?" Haruka questioned, eyeing the boy and the note pressed against his chest. Distantly, he could hear Rin's words from before echoing in his ears — _"Don't ask him what this says."_ — but he wasn't really asking exactly what the note said, now was he? _No, I'm just asking what there was to forget,_ Haru thought, confident in his argument. In front of him, Nitori's smile finally stopped growing and shrank back down into a small one.

"My birthday is today," The silver-haired boy said quietly, as though he didn't want anyone to know, and gave a shaky laugh. "It's not really that important and sometimes he has a lot going on, so sometimes the Prince forgets, but this year..." Nitori trailed off, smiling, and Haruka found he couldn't help but allow the corners of his own mouth to turn slightly upwards. "He didn't forget?" He finished out Nitori's sentence, causing the boy to nod.

Haruka returned said nod, going on to say, "That's good." Then the two fell into a comfortable silence, Nitori gazing down at the note he'd been given while Haruka let his eyes wander back over to the** "PA"** on the wall.

"Well, I'll get going then," Haru finally spoke up after they'd stood there for a bit longer than was necessary in absolute silence. The black-haired male began to turn around, ready to head off, when he heard Nitori thank him quietly—_ "Thank you for bringing me this."_

Taken by surprise, Haru looked at the boy before he slowly — this time unable to help himself — smiled, nodding as he began to leave. Nitori's face flushed and as he watched Haruka's retreating back, he too smiled. _Haruka-san's smile is nice..._ The boy thought to himself. Then he blinked.

"Wait..." Nitori mumbled, glancing down at the note in his hands. He flipped it back open, unfolding it, and read through it once more. "What does he want to meet me for, though?" He wondered, blinking.

Meanwhile, a few minutes later, Haru questioned Rin about the same exact thing. "Meet him?" The boy repeated after the Prince, who smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I told him to meet me here at midnight in my note. I'm glad to see you followed orders and didn't get curious about it," Rin said with a smirk, crossing his arms. Haruka scowled. "I had no reason to concern myself with it; he's taking back his role as your assistant tomorrow, anyway. And I can follow orders when I choose to, you know." Haruka insisted, causing Rin to raise his eyebrows. "Oh, really?" He inquired. Haruka nodded and Rin smirked again.

"Well, good. Now we can get on with your next assignment," The Prince stepped forward, reaching into his robes and pulling out a bag. It's contents jingled slightly and, upon having the bag slipped into his hand, Haruka's eyebrows raised. Feeling the bumpiness of the objects inside the bag, he knew exactly what he'd just been handed money.

"What's this for?" Haruka asked, frowning as he looked up at the Prince, who grinned. "This," Rin reached out, flicking the bag in Haruka's hand, "is what you're going to take into town to buy Nitori's birthday present with."

"What?" Haruka's frown deepened, his hands feeling at the bag of money. _What on earth could he be planning to buy?_ He wondered. Distantly, he heard Rin laugh.

"I want you to take this into town with you and go to the tailor, Amakata-san. Ni's been complaining to me about his outfit forever; I want you to go buy him a new one. I think he wants something a little more... colorful."

"Amakata-san, clothes... Okay." Haruka nodded, wondering if he was supposed to go right then. As Rin waved him away and wished him luck, he knew the answer was _yes_— he was supposed to be going_ now_. It had to be about eight o'clock already, judging by the way the moon was beginning to shine in through the open window of the Prince's ceiling. And so Haruka turned, exiting out of the room and beginning to wonder if he was supposed to just walk to town or what.

_It's not far, if I remember right, but he sure didn't give me good instructions,_ The boy thought as he slowly headed down the corridor, soon moving through the doorway that lead into the throne room. From there, he headed for the palace entrance, briefly glancing up at the King and Queen's thrones. There was no one seated upon them. _The King must still be feeling ill,_ He thought, but went on his way without another thought about it. He'd probably have to explain himself to the guards; why he was leaving and with a bag of coins on him, at that.

He actually received a pleasant surprise, however, as he emerged from the palace and found Rei stationed just outside the entrance. He soon found those thoughts slipping away, as well all his concerns totally forgotten. "Oi," He said to the guard to catch his attention, who turned his amethyst hues to him. Upon seeing him, Rei gave a little smirk. "Hey," He greeted Haruka, eyeing the bag of money in his hands. Maybe he needed to put the money in his pocket, if it'd fit. "Can I help you?" Rei questioned.

"I'm going into town for the Prince. He wants me to buy a birthday present for his actual assistant," Haruka explained, holding up the bag of money for Rei to see clearly as he did so. The guard eyed the servant and nodded. "Today is Nitori's birthday, huh? July 31st... Ha, tomorrow is the first day of August— can you believe it?" Rei asked, shaking his head and adjusting his glasses. Haruka closed his eyes, shaking his head, as well. No, he couldn't.

_It's been a full month since I left home..._ Haruka thought, sighing. He'd been away from his family for the entire month of July, only Baa-chan remaining at his side, even as he had packed up and decided to leave. Haruka smiled, thinking about the camel. _Good old Baa-chan._

"Oi, are you daydreaming? I didn't know you _could_ dream," Rei said, trying to catch Haruka's attention as he waved his hand in front of the boy's face. Haru blinked, looking at Rei, and scowled, brushing his hand away. "No, I'm not daydreaming. Just thinking," He said and Rei stepped back, adjusting his glasses again. "Daydreaming is an abstract form of thinking," He argued, defending himself, and Haruka rolled his eyes, beginning to move forward. Rei watched him go, shrugging as the boy walked away. "Well, it is."

"Just because I said I was thinking doesn't mean I was daydreaming, though," Haruka mumbled to himself, stepping out past the gate that seperated the palace grounds from the actual city of Firdous. Haruka continued to walk forward, seeing the city just a little ways ahead, and once there he looked around, slowly slipping the bag of money Rin had given him into his pocket.

The city looked much more deserted at night than it had the day he had arrived there. The streets were empty, torches lit to light the pathways, as the sun had already retired for the night. Haruka felt a good breeze blow against him and he scowled, continuing to trudge forward. He needed to hurry up and find this Amakata-san and her tailor shop, because the night air was abnormally cold against his form. _Too cold._

As ready as he was to find the woman and her flower shop, he couldn't help but to stop at the fountain in the center of town as he came across it, anyway. The boy stopped at the small collection of water, which currently sat still as a mere pool of water; unlike when he'd been there a few days previously, the fountain wasn't going.

_There must be some sort of trick they use during the daytime,_ Haruka thought, examining the fountain and briefly wondering if the Queen had ever replaced the water._ Rei said she would,_ He thought, hoping that she actually_ had_. That older man Nagisa had called Manoto-san had really gotten onto his back for _"poisoning their water supply."_

Haruka paused, an image of the friendly blonde boy he'd met here in Firdous not a week before flashing through his mind. _Nagisa... I wonder what ever happened to him? Where did he go after I was arrested?_ Haruka wondered, staring dully down at the water in the fountain, which only shifted as breezes blew through the city. He knew not to touch it this time around; Nagisa had gotten onto him the other day, too, when he'd tried to.

Haruka smiled slightly, thinking back to the blonde boy and the kindness he'd shown him. He'd been interesting, to say the least— even though Haru had found him rather loud and annoying during their little touring session. Looking back, he found he was glad, overall, to have met Nagisa, and so quickly. He was glad that out of the entire town of Firdous, Nagisa had been the one to stand out to him, because without Nagisa he'd have never been able to see such a beautiful dance as the boy's, or tasted the water of the fountain he was currently standing beside, or anything. Yes, he really did owe the blonde a bit, looking back on it.

_I think he even showed me where the tailor's was, if I remember right,_ Haru thought, looking to his right. _It was that way, wasn't it?_

Slowly, Haruka moved around the fountain, silently bidding it farewell and heading down the street he could distantly remember the tailor's being on. As he passed by the many alleyways lining the street, he shivered. The darkness inside them was unpleasant; anything could have been lurking in the hidden pathways, ready to strike.

As the black-haired male passed by one of the brothels he remembered Nagisa skipping over during their tour, however, the only thing he found striking out against him was a high-pitched gasp, which caused him to flinch in surprise. Haruka frowned, glancing at the next alleyway to his right. Another cry sounded, this one sounding a bit less surprised and a lot more resisting. He slowly creeped closer, somewhat concerned. The male stopped against the wall, pressing his back against it and staying still as he listened, perched just outside the mouth of the alleyway.

"Hey— isn't this great? You're getting to have fun on your birthday, even though you aren't working," A deep voice said, the sounds of rummaging and shifting clothes following in it's wake. There was another gasp, followed by a low moan. "It's not— ah! My birthday..." Another voice mumbled soon after, then the individual continued to press on, insisting that they be let go. Haruka found something familiar about the two voices— one more so than the other. He tried to place where he'd heard them, then flinched just as there was a loud cry from the alleyway.

"Stop! That _hurts!_" The second voice he'd heard previously said, followed by a small sniffle. There was a laugh, one that was cut off by a loud slapping sound and a grunt. Another cry followed, as well as the sound of what sounded like a fight two people moving against each other, one trying to move the other away while the other tried to keep the two of them close. Haruka frowned, wondering if it was a rape scene in-the-making he was hearing.

At the next few cries, then another slap followed by an even louder, harder one and an exclaimation of,_ "Knock it the fuck off, Nagisa!"_ Haruka's eyes widened, his brows raising. _Nagisa...?_

Again, an image of the happy blonde flashed through his mind, and Haru found himself feeling foolish for having not placed the voice with the blonde's face before. _That's him, for sure,_ He thought, frowning. _But who's the other one?_ He pondered. The second voice — the deeper one — was one he stil couldn't pair with a face.

At the next sound of rough contact, another slap and a sharp cry, Haruka decided he didn't need to figure out who the second voice was, however. He could feel a small ball of anger building in his stomach and at the sound of Nagisa crying, officially in tears, the male frowned. He stepped out from behind the corner, entering into the alleyway with a sharp cry of,_ "Nagisa!"_

The pink hues that shot to him looked relieved, but more fearful than anything. The man all over the smaller male raised his head, beginning to look towards Haru, but he didn't get a good look at his face, still didn't know who the man was. All he knew was that suddenly he felt a second pair of hands, ones that definitely didn't belong to the man or the small blonde he'd jumped in to rescue, grabbing onto his vest, jerking him to the side and pinning him to the wall.

He'd just registered the cold tip of a knife against his neck and the pain that came from having his arms twisted painfully behind his back when Nagisa gasped, beginning to thrash against the man holding him, trying to break free— to get away.

_"Haru-chan!"_

**[CHAPTER TEN: "BACK INTO THE CITY." END]**

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Hey, guys. I'm sorry that this didn't go up yesterday like I promised; a lot of stress has been circulating around the fandom since Episode 6 aired. I have to say, I almost wish it had never aired at all. I don't know how many of you have a tumblr — if any of you do, go follow me (url is yorudan-ai) and I'll follow you back! — but if you go into the Free! tag... _It's crazy. _I think we're about to be in the middle of a shipping war, guys. MakoHaru shippers versus RinHaru shippers. It's ridiculous.

For those who don't quite get what I'm talking about, let's just say people are getting really immature and aggressive about what is and isn't canon. _"Episode 6 makes it official! MakoHaru is canon!" "Nuh uh! Wait until Episode 7, then you'll see how canon RinHaru is!" _That sort of thing. It's stupid. I'm about to stop going into the Free! tag all-in-all until next week, because I'm tired of seeing all that garbage.

My OTP is RinHaru, but I think MakoHaru is nice, and I liked Episode 6, and Nagisa was cute pretending to be a penguin. And that scene where they leave the rest house and there's all that water and they look down and the sky is being _reflected in the freaking water _is beautiful, and that's all I have to say. Oh— and Rin had hardly no time in this episode, but he was gorgeous during both his appearances, so I'm okay with that. I don't care if you ship Haruka with Makoto or Rin, but I do want everyone to get out of everyone else's faces about it, because it's stupid. Okay, well, that was just me blowing off steam.

Anyway, I'm thinking Chapter 11 will be up... Saturday(08/17)? Yeah, I think that's safe to say. So look forward to it, guys! I'll see you all later!

(btw, I apologize for the horrible chapter title. I went to name this chap and I got distracted by one of my cats, Oreo, sleeping and just... Ugh, I was too distracted to think of anything better. Sorry! Okay, now bye!) PuddinPie out!


	11. In the Alleyway

This may suck. I apologize. But it may not.

**Summary: —**

**Warnings:** Moderate amount of violence and bad language. Implied sexual content is minimal.

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Free! Iwatobi Swim Club._**

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**[CHAPTER ELEVEN: "IN THE ALLEYWAY."]**

"Well, look here— we've got ourselves some company."

The man behind Haruka snickered and the servant boy grunted, resisting the urge to gasp out in pain as the side of his face was pressed harder and harder against the wall of the alleyway. The figure behind him laughed once more, their hot breath ghosting across the nape of his neck, and the blue-eyed male shivered. Haruka struggled to move his arms, finding that there wasn't much he could do to rebel against his capturer, especially not in such a compromised situation.

_He's got me,_ Haru thought, wincing slightly as the man who held him slid the edge of the knife he was holding from his neck to his throat, the sharp steel leaving a thin red line in it's wake. A very minimal amount of blood trickled out of the fresh wound, the red liquid sliding down Haruka's throat and riding along the edge of his collarbone, only one small stream moving on to make it's way down the middle of his chest. Haruka squeezed his eyes shut, wondering how one small line of blood could feel so_ warm_.

"Let him go!" Nagisa screamed from off to the side, thrashing against his own problem-in-the-shape-of-a-human-male, before gasping, his face contorting as the man who held him in his grasp slid a hand under his shirt. "H-Haru..." The blonde mumbled.

Haruka wanted to tell the men to leave them alone — to let them go, to get the hell away, to just_ leave_ — but the words wouldn't come. Not when the knife at his throat was so_ cold_, the warmth against his back so_ foreign_— not when the threat of a million and one possibilities loomed overhead, hovering like a dark cloud. It was dark out, he and Nagisa were stuck to face the threat these two men presented alone, and neither of them were armed, by the looks of it.

_If I had my equipment,_ Haru thought, squeezing his eyes shut as he thought of the dagger he'd carried with him during his near-month of travelling the desert with Baa-chan. If he had that, there was a chance he could turn the tables, stop things before they got out of hand

_No, I don't need a weapon to change the situation,_ Haruka pushed away his thoughts of _"if."_ The boy grunted and leaned forward, pressing himself against the wall further; he felt relieved when the man behind him didn't lean forward as well, glad to not have the man's chest right up against his back. _These guys are just like that man back in the desert. I don't need a weapon to take them down,_ Haruka thought determinedly, not sure whether he was being honest with himself or presenting himself with a sugar-coated lie to help give him peace of mind. Eitherway, he had to do something, or else who knew what could end up happening. _I have to save Nagisa— I have to save us._

With a prayer sent up to a God he wasn't even sure he believed in, Haruka pushed away from the wall. He moved back into his initial position — up against the man's chest — and used the space between his feet and the wall to slowly inch his left foot closer, closer, and still closer to the wall. Then, once his toes were pressed against the hard, cold stone, the boy grunted, swinging his leg back, his heel successfully making hard contact with the man's shin. There was a curse, followed by the sound of the man's clumsy footsteps as he stumbled backward. Haru took the opportunity to wheel around, to prepare to face the man and make him buzz off, but he found himself regretting his actions sooner that he would've liked.

The feel of the small knife his assailant wielded was cold and painful against Haruka's skin as the small weapon was pushed into the boy's shoulder, causing him to gasp out. Haru's mouth dropped open, his eyes opening wide as he stared at the man's face, his body registering the pain from his attack, but his mind unable to register what had happened. The male that towered over him looked angered, his face still contorted in a look of slight pain over Haru's kick. "You brat," He grumbled out, pushing the knife in deeper.

Haruka gasped again, a soft groaning noise slipping past his lips as he felt blood flowing from the wound, warm and sticky and flowing from his body in bigger amounts than the small trickles that had escaped from his throat previously. Haru tried not to focus on the warm sensation spilling down his arm and side.

"Ain't nobody asked for any kicks to the shin," The man above Haruka said, grunting as he pulled at the knife in Haru's shoulder, withdrawing it from the boy's flesh. Haru hissed as the weapon left him, gritting his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut. The man put his dagger away and reached out, taking Haruka by the hair. There was a laugh, this one slightly higher-pitched than the one of the man who currently had Haru in his clutches.

"What— can't take a little kick from a little servant boy?" The voice asked and Haru was able to recognize it in his pained, hazy state as the voice of the man he'd heard cursing at Nagisa beforehand when he himself was still safe, positioned just outside the alleyway and still hidden within the shadows. _I should've been more cautious,_ Haru thought, wondering why he'd acted so recklessly. There was no time to ponder that, however, as the male off to the side with Nagisa laughed again, turning to face them. Haruka raised his eyebrows, blue eyes staring at the man. "You..." He mumbled.

Dark brown hair that hung to his shoulders, his bangs side-swept; red eyes that seemed almost_ unreal_. Blue and white garments that Haru could liken to his own ensemble and now recognize as the official uniform of a guard of the royal palace. Add it all together into a whole image and it all became clear. The man that had approached them while they were standing at the fountain back on his first day in town nearly a week ago; the man who had come up and started speaking with Nagisa. Haruka frowned, his eyebrows knitting together.

"A palace guard committing rape? I wonder what the King and Queen would think of that." There was no longer a question as to whether or not a rape had been in the middle of happening as there had been back before he'd stepped in and tried to intervene, he didn't think. Haru didn't allow his eyes to wander too far, but just from looking he could see Nagisa's white pants, once on correctly, were pushed down to hug the boy's knees, his shirt slightly open and the man's hands on his front— one on his chest while the other pressed against his hip bone.

Haruka felt that same angry ball of emotion as before build back up in the pit of his stomach at the sight. How dare they do this to someone like Nagisa— the peppy, cheerful and all-around friendly blonde didn't deserve this. He was too nice— granted, a little annoying, but he was far too kind of a soul to have this done to him. This was obscene.

"Rape?" The man in question raised his eyebrows, looking surprised, before he laughed. "You're kidding, right? This isn't rape," The man insisted and smirked. He backed up, bringing Nagisa back with him, who'd stopped fighting against him and had settled for squeezing his eyes shut and crying after he'd seen Haru take a deep knife wound to the shoulder. It was his fault; Haru was in trouble because of him! _Dammit!_

"He_ likes_ it— can't you tell?" The red-eyed man behind Nagisa smirked again, leaning back against the back wall of the alleyway as he lifted Nagisa up, letting the blonde's pants slip to hang around his ankles before he spread his legs apart. Haruka's face contorted into a look of sheer disgust —as well as pain from his wound — and he grunted as the man holding him up by the hair yanked on his dark locks, pointing him in Nagisa and the other man's direction.

"You think he's some innocent little shit or something?" The man asked from behind Haru, shaking him roughly by his hair when he saw Haru try to shut his eyes. The boy opened his blue hues once more to satisfy the man, watching as the man that had Nagisa pushed his own pants down.

"That boy is a _whore_. Seriously— he works in the brothel next door," The man behind Haru commented, taking it upon himself to allow his free hand to wander to the boy's waist, his fingers ghosting over Haru's only half-covered hip bone. The blue-eyed servant didn't do anything in protest to the man's actions, too pulled in by the sight before him to even feel the man's hand on him, save for a distant, tiny tickle against his skin. "He loves having sex with anyone and everyone who'll have him— I'm surprised he hasn't picked up any nasty diseases along the way," The man commented.

Haruka eyebrows raised and Nagisa gasped out, tears still spilling from his eyes as the man behind him pushed into him— the man he knew well and probably wouldn't mind doing this sort of thing with _any other day_. He didn't like having an audience, either especially not with Haru in that audience. Haru...

"Haru-chan..." Nagisa mumbled quietly, moaning as the red-eyed man moved against him. Haruka felt his stomach flip, the sound of Nagisa's reluctant but pleasured moan foreign to his ears._ So he really does like it..._ Haruka thought, shaking his head as much as his own assailant would allow him to. The way Nagisa had gone all quiet when that guard guy had approached them, save for speaking in whispers to the man... The way he'd skipped over every brothel in town during his tour of Firdous... Suddenly it all made sense— everything.

Upon discovering this, having this revelation, Haruka grunted, scowling. Why why had Nagisa hidden that from him? _What— had he been expecting to be judged? I'm an outsider, my opinion shouldn't matter._

Haru pushed the man behind him away with his free arm, letting his short-but-not-too-short nails scratch at the man's skin, before he whirled around, kicking the man again, this time in the stomach. As the man fell, Haru attempted to make a grab for the knife against the man's hip, but the taller, tanner male grunted, swinging his foot up. The top of the man's shoe connected with Haru's chin and he gasped out, grunting as he fell back and hit the ground, pain coursing throughout his jaw. On the other side of the alley, Nagisa's cries seemed to intensify.

"You little fucker," The man Haruka had kicked grunted, rubbing his stomach as he stood. "I'll make you pay for that!" He exclaimed, making a move for the boy— one Haru found that, when on his back on such a flat, hard surface, with such intense pain already ringing through him, he couldn't move to dodge. The boy felt the warmth of the man on his abdomen as he straddled his stomach, then the sharp pain of a fist connecting with his cheek, followed by another hit to the other side of his face. As the hits came, he was pretty sure the blood he was tasting was from the kick to the jaw he'd received before— at least, he hoped that's where it was from.

And the hits continued, punch after punch after occasional slap, and Haruka grunted. He could hardly feel the rest of his body anymore— all the pain was situated in his face. And then the man moved lower, biting harshly at his neck and scratching at his chest, leaving enough trauma and damage everywhere he touched to guarentee a bruise later. Haru didn't make a lot of noise, leaving the sounds of the man's hits and Nagisa's moans to fill the air.

"Heh, sounds like they're having fun, huh?" The man hovering above Haru asked, moving down to the boy's lower half. He smirked, taking in Haru's dazed, beaten appearance. "You were cute before I started beating up on ya, but you're gonna be real ugly after I'm done with you. Maybe I'll make you mine; Nagisa seems like he's already got someone," The man began to reach for Haru's pants. "Of course, I dunno who would fuck you if I didn't; your face is already starting to look pretty nasty," The man insulted, taking hold of the side of Haru's pants, his hand gripping dangerously close to the bag of coins in his pocket. Haruka's breath hitched.

_Please don't let him notice,_ The boy thought, trying to shift underneath the man, willing his aching body to move. This only caused the man's hand to slip, however, grasping at the bag inside Haru's pocket. He raised his eyebrows. "What do we have here?" The man commented, reaching inside the boy's pocket and pulling out the bag of money. Just by feeling it, hearing the coins inside it jingle, he knew what it was. The man smirked, holding the bag up high as he looked towards his friend. "Hey, look at what we got here, Rai!" The man called, catching his buddy's attention mid-thrust. "What is it?" He asked.

"Loot! Coins— a whole bag of 'em!" The man above Haruka exclaimed, to which his buddy nodded. "Nice. Keep it safe and we can go buy some more booze and prostitutes."

The man nodded, pocketing the money. Haruka let out a growl, reaching out and using as much strength as was currently possible to hit the man, who returned the growl, grabbed the boy's hand, and reached for his knife, aiming it at Haru's chest this time. "I'm tired of you hitting me, you little bastard. Now that we've got your money, I don't think I need to fuck you— there are much better looking people in the brothel next door, and women, at that!" He exclaimed, beginning to bring down the knife. Haruka winced and Nagisa quickly called out for the man to stop, successfully catching his attention. The man looked over at Nagisa, as well as Haru, who found it incredibly painful to turn his head to do so.

"Please— leave him alone!" Nagisa begged now that all eyes were on him, including those of the man behind him as he stopped mid-thrust. The blonde squeezed his eyes shut before opening them, trying to stop his tears as he said, "Stop hurting Haru-chan! Stop it and you can have that money, plus mine, and myself for the rest of the night—_ free_!" He exclaimed, trying to negotiate.

The two men glanced at each other, then the one with the money smirked, glancing down at Haru. "You sure are lucky he's so good at what he does, boy," He commented before getting off of Haru, standing back up and looking back towards Nagisa, who was fixing his pants back around his waist; the man behind him, best known as Rai, had pulled out.

"A-And if we leave Haru-chan alone and go somewhere else, you can _both_ have me," Nagisa promised, wanting to make certain that Haruka would be safe and trying to put as much on the table as possible. Still on the ground, Haruka's eyes widened as one of the men — though he couldn't tell which — whistled. "_Both_ of us? Sounds pretty good to me— let's go Nagi, Tsu," The red-eyed man took Nagisa's arm, his own pants fixed as he walked past the other man, Tsu, who followed. As they left, Nagisa glanced back at Haruka, frowning. "I'm so sorry, Haru-chan," He whispered, wishing he didn't have to leave Haruka alone.

And left alone he was. Haruka laid there on the ground for what seemed like forever before he finally found it within himself to crawl over to the alley wall, sitting up and leaning against it. He gasped. He was in so much_ pain_— from his face to his chest to his... his..._ My what?_ Haruka wondered hazily, thinking back to the moans Nagisa had been emitting beforehand, his mind seeing the Nagisa he'd seen tonight as a sharp contrast against the one he'd known just days before. _My... trust in people? Is that what else has been hurt?_ He didn't know. He just knew he was in a lot of pain, didn't feel like moving, and he'd lost the money for Nitori's present.

_Shit,_ Haru thought as he shut his eyes, his world going dark as he slowly slipped into a sleep that was hardly peaceful.

Meanwhile, some few hours later at just a minute until midnight, Prince Rin sat in his bedroom with his usual assistant, Nitori. The silver-haired boy had been there for the last ten minutes, even though Rin's note had said midnight, and they were talking about this and that to pass the time. It seemed to Nitori — as they sat at the small table in Rin's room, chatting — that the Prince was stalling. True, he'd arrived a few minutes early, but he'd been very eager to go see the Prince, even though he was rather sleepy. _I'm not used to staying up late,_ Nitori thought, wondering why Rin couldn't go ahead and tell him what this was about.

"Prince?" The silver-haired boy asked, before he glanced around the room as the Bell of Firdous, located at the very top of the palace, rang— signaling it was twelve. Nitori smiled, glancing towards the Prince and expecting him to come out with whatever this little meeting of their's was about. He was rather shocked, however, when Rin didn't begin to explain why he was here so late. The red-haired Prince was staring off into space, it seemed, and Nitori had no earthly clue as to what Rin was thinking about. The boy didn't know the things the Prince was feeling on the inside— the anger, the impatience, and — distantly — the worry. _Haru should have been back by now,_ He thought, frowning.

"Prince?" Nitori said again, this time louder. "Oh, uh," Rin looked across the table to his assistant, noting that the bell had stopped ringing now which, considering it rang all throughout the minute of twelve o'clock sharp, meant it was now after twelve. "I just, um..." He mumbled, not knowing what he wanted to say. He didn't have a gift like he'd planned and he'd already told the boy happy birthday, so what...?

"I just... wanted to welcome you back as soon as possible," Rin spouted off the top of his head, offering Nitori half a smile. The boy across from him blinked, surprised, before he slowly laughed and stood. "Thank you. It's good to be back, my Prince. May I go to bed now?" The boy asked, rubbing the back of his head. "You know I have a hard time staying up late," Nitori said, to which Rin chuckled and nodded. The boy smiled and returned the nod, slowly moving towards the door.

As soon as Nitori slipped out, shutting said door behind him, Rin sighed. _Haru, where the fuck are you?_ He questioned, slowly feeling himself getting angrier and angrier now that Nitori was gone and his whole birthday plan had gone downhill for no clear reason. Had he taken the money and run? Rin's hands curled into fists. _You better fucking not have, Haru. You better fucking come back._

_"I will,"_ is what Haruka would have answered, had he been more than half-conscious and able to communicate with the Prince via telepathy. But he couldn't, he just knew he was being rescued.

He didn't know_ how_ Rei had found him or _why exactly_ he was there, but he could make out silver frames and rich purple hues just past them, peering down at him with concern. He heard Rei ask him what had happened, but his voice sounded very distant. Then the guard was picking him up carefully, saying something about having to get him back to the palace, and Haru just let Rei carry him, wishing the male would go a bit more slowly; it hurt to be moved.

"Rei..." Haruka found his voice on the way back, his head falling back as he said, "I wanna go see Baa-chan." There was a grunt as Rei pushed past the palace gates, shaking his head.

"You can't go see Baa-chan right now. We need to get you fixed up. Also, I need to report this to Prince Rin, seeing as how you were out in town doing him a favor."

Haru grunted, already dreading the thought of just Rin himself. He didn't know what to expect from the cerise-haired Prince. He'd been mugged and had ruined Nitori's big birthday surprise or whatever, which the Prince had seemed pretty excited about. Being carried into the palace via the front entrance, Haru wasn't sure what to expect.

_Will you be mad... Rin?_

**[CHAPTER ELEVEN: "IN THE ALLEYWAY." END]**

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Hey, guys! This fic has hit 130+ reviews! Whoo! Thanks to all of you for your support.

I wish I could talk longer, write out a better message to you wonderful people, but I've really, _really _gotta go. I'm late to be somewhere! Well, almost.  
(as in, I'm supposed to be up my grandma's and my mom'll have a fit if I'm not up there by seven, which it's twenty past six as I write this and I have to get ready.)

So yeah! I'll see you all soon! Chapter 12 should be up... before Wednesday, is all I can say. Bye guys! I'll fix any mistakes later! PuddinPie out!


	12. To Understand

Hey, everyone. So I promised this would be out before Wednesday, but really I just meant before the new episode came out, so yeah. I was successful! We've got about an hour left until the livestream even airs.

So, since I have some time to talk, I'd like to first, thank you all for your reviews; they make my day and you all rock! And second, I want to bring to your attention a review I got that _oh so nicely — _not exactly — asked me to put this up on AO3. I _have _gotten an invitation and I _will _sign up and start publishing this fic there... if others feel the same way as this person did.

Well, do you? If you want to let me know, either leave it in your review or, if you never planned on reviewing, please go and answer the poll on my profile page. I'd really appreciate it! But to those of you who will review... How do you think I should go about publishing the chapters, should I put this up on AO3? I don't want to publish everything I have all at once, so what are you thinking I should do? A chapter a day until I catch up? Two? What? Let me know that, too! Anyway, enjoy Chapter 12, everyone! Sorry for wasting so much of your time!

**Summary: **—

**Warnings:** Some bad language. Sexual content is minimal to moderate.

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Free! Iwatobi Swim Club. _Please stop remind me.**

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**[CHAPTER TWELVE: "TO UNDERSTAND."]**

"Prince Rin, sir— I apologize for disturbing you, but there's been an incident."

Rin grunted, bringing up a hand and pushing his bangs out of his face, his turban unwrapped and laying in a neat pile at the edge of his bed some ten to twelve feet behind him. "What is it? What's happened?" He asked, his voice gruff. He was already pissed off at Haru; he didn't need some other idiot coming to him, knocking at his door and telling his all about the problems that he, for once, wished his parents would just hurry up and handle.

"Sir," The guard standing just outside Rin's door corrected his posture, standing up straight as he picked up on the fact that the Prince was by no means in a good mood. Resisting the urge to adjust his glasses, Rei could imagine why the Prince was already irritable enough as things were; from what Haruka had told him, he was supposed to have delivered a present to the Prince for his assistant, Nitori, about an hour and a half before. Obviously, due to problems that had arisen, Haru had been unable to complete this task, though the Prince wasn't aware of that... yet. Rei couldn't help but wonder how the Prince's attitude towards the whole situation would change once he received the news he'd come to deliver; would the news fuel his fire or water it down slightly? Only time would tell.

"I'm afraid some complications arose when your fill-in assistant, Haruka, went into town for you this evening, sir." Rei tried to sound as official and mature as possible, always one to attempt to impress the royal family. Rin's eyes widened, his eyebrows raising. Was that why Haru hadn't come back? Had something happened? _What if something did?_ Rin thought, his grip tightening on his bedroom door's handle.

"What kind of complications?" The Prince asked, a deep frown settled into his face as he gazed upon Rei, who let his eyes slip shut, his right hand coming up to finally adjust his glasses. "He was attacked while in town, sir."

Rin's entire body slacked, going limp as he stared at Rei increduously. _Attacked...?_ "By who?" The Prince breathed, sounding a bit like he was holding his breath. He was.

"Two men who were also said to have been assaulting a blonde boy in one of the alleyways. One of the men appears to have been a guard in this palace— a man named Raido. I know very little about him."

Rin lowered his gaze, allowing his eyes to scan over the uniform the slightly taller male in front of him wore. _A palace guard... Raido?_ Rin wracked his brain for answers, trying to recall who this Raido man was. "Is he new?" He asked, unable to place the man. Rei nodded. "Fairly. Your father— the King, he hired him to guard the northeastern entrance a week or two ago. I'd estimate it's been about twelve days since he first came here."

"What do you know about him? What does he look like?" Rin questioned, back to looking at Rei with a deep frown on his face that threatened to shift into a scowl as the guard shook his head, going on to tell the Prince that he had seen the back of the man's head once or twice. All he knew was that he had dark brown hair— nothing more. Rin finally scowled.

"Bring me Haru. He should know," The Prince ordered, turning away from Rei as he prepared to enter back into his bedroom. The blue-haired male frowned. "I don't think that's a very good idea, sir. Haru is injured and—"

"Did I _ask_ you what you thought, four eyes?" Red eyes bore into amethyst as royalty questioned peasantry. Rei shrank back, shaking his head. The Prince could be rather intimidating when he wanted to be and those teeth looked so _threatening_. "No, sir," Rei mumbled, bowing his head before the Prince, his arms practically pinned to his sides. "I will bring Haruka to you, sir."

"Good, now get going. Don't bother coming back with him, either. You're not the one I want to speak with."

Rei's mouth fell open as Rin crossed the threshold back into his room, shutting the door behind himself and leaving Rei absolutely no time to respond— not even to give a quick, _"Yes, sir!"_ The guard quickly got ahold of himself, however, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose as he turned away, preparing to go and fetch Haru._ So that was a small demonstration of the Prince's quick temper, huh? Never thought I'd see one._

Shaking his head, Rei left the area, heading back towards the servant's quarters, where he had left Haru in his room rather than the boy's own. Once there he explained the situation and the Prince's request, causing Haru to groan and sigh, obviously far less than happy. But the boy heaved himself up off of Rei's bed all the same, his limbs crying out as he moved. His recently bandaged shoulder stung, the pain of having been stabbed echoing, pulsing throughout his shoulder and right arm.

Haruka brought his good arm up his left and placed his hand on his shoulder, continuing to grip loosely onto the body part as he left Rei's room, wondering _why the hell_, if Rin knew the situation so well, _he_ couldn't come to _him._ _It wouldn't kill him,_ Haruka thought.

His slight irritation towards Rin soon subsided, however, as Haru began to carefully make his way towards the Prince's room, having to go slow. It wasn't so much his legs that were the problem, as they hadn't been beaten up on by that man back in the alley, but rather the way his torso twisted as he walked, lighting all the slowly bruising patches of skin that littered his chest on fire._ Have I always walked like this?_ Haru wondered, trying to stop himself from twisting and turning so much as he made his way down corridor after corridor, through room after room. He wasn't very successful in his efforts.

Needless to say, eventually Haruka found himself standing at the door to the Prince's bedroom— all thirty minutes of the half hour it'd taken him to reach his destination aside. Haru shut his right eye, finding that it hurt to keep it open, and reached forward, slowly wrapping his knuckles against Rin's bedroom door. With how fast Rin opened the door, how quick he was to answer Haru's knock... It'd have been a surprise if the Prince hadn't been sitting right by the door on the other side of the wall, waiting for Haru.

The look Rin gave Haruka as he caught sight of the boy was horrified. The jerk he used as a means to get Haru inside the room was quick and hardly painful, as Rin had — thank whatever supernatural being above — grabbed his left arm to tug him inside the room, rather than his right. And there were the questions— oh, all the quick, cobbled together questions. _"Did you get a good look at the bastards who did this to you?" "Is the other kid that was with them safe?" "Did you even try to fight back?"_ Rin's questions came one after another, the Prince using every bit of breath he had stored in his lungs to ask them before he finally went quiet, panting. Haru took this as his opportunity to tell his side of the story.

And so he did. And at the end of it all, Rin cursed, pounding his fist against the wooden surface of his desk. "I'll have that bastard executed, along with his little buddy," The Prince said, shaking his head. Sitting on the Prince's bed, which he'd been given permission to sit on just this once, Haru watched the taller male, expressionless. He shook his head. "Don't do that."

"Huh?" Rin turned towards Haru now, a deep frown settled into his face as he approached the boy, coming to stand just in front of him. "I _will_ have them executed for this," The taller male said, staring down at Haruka with angry red hues. Haru stared back into those red gems, his calm blue gaze meeting the Prince's red, passionate one, and he shook his head once more. "I'm not happy about this, either, but an attack like this one doesn't warrant death. I don't think—"

"It_ does_!" Rin objected, hardly letting Haruka finish his sentence. The black-haired boy fought the urge to frown, slightly fearful that to move his face so much would hurt. "But—" He tried to object, tried to voice his opinion rather than just leave it up to his expressions to show how he felt about it for once, and Rin shook his head, cutting the boy off. "_No_!" He snapped, angry and hateful. Haruka shrank back slightly, slowly casting his gaze down at his lap. He stayed quiet for a little while, appreciating the fact that Rin chose to do the same, before speaking.

"I won't try to argue this out with you, Rin," Haruka used the male's name like it was nothing— like he was_ supposed_ to be so informal with royalty. "because I know I won't win."

"You're damn right you won't," Rin agreed, crossing his arms as he sat down beside Haru, staring straight ahead with his lips still pulled together tightly. "But," Haru continued, causing the Prince to look towards him. "But?"

"I do have a favor to ask, even if you won't listen to what I have to say about those two men." Rin raised an eyebrow. "What?" He questioned. Haru sucked in a breath. "The boy who was with them," He mumbled, staring down at his lap. "He made a big sacrifice for me, I think." The Prince's eyebrow raised even higher. "What kind of sacrifice?" He asked.

"He gave up his body to them. I know he was into having sex, anyway..." Haru mumbled, shaking his head slightly. "But I think he really dug himself into a deep hole tonight. I think he took a big risk for himself in order to save me— to get them to leave me alone. And I want to return his favor," Haruka explained, going quiet as they slowly settled into silence. Then the Prince spoke back up, not quite sure he understood, but figuring he understood _just enough_ to respond to Haruka. "So what do you want to do?" He questioned.

Haru stared down at his hands, inviting images of Nagisa to dance around in his mind. Nagisa crying, Nagisa's face contorted into a look of pleasure as he moaned... Nagisa had seemed so _different_ upon their first meeting; so bright, but also so secretive about himself. Why hadn't he expected him to accept him for who he was? Why hadn't he told him?

_Well, they called him a whore..._ Haru thought. Who wanted to be known as someone who made their living by dancing in the streets by day and, apparently, having sex with men and women at night?_ I understand that now, a little. But why does he work in a brothel anyway? His dancing is beautiful. He could make so much money just from that... So why does he have sex with strangers? Unless... Does it just feel that good? _Haruka pondered.

"Haru?" The servant boy was pulled out of his thoughts as Rin spoke up, frowning down at him. "Well— what do you want done?" The Prince repeated his question. Haruka sucked in a breath. _It's a lot to ask._

"I want to understand," Haru mumbled. Rin's other eyebrow rose up to be on par with the first. "Understand? What does that mean?" He asked, not sure of exactly what it was Haru was wanting to understand. Haruka shut his eyes, turning his head away slightly. "I want you to have sex with me."

"_What_?!" Rin exclaimed, his mouth dropping open. Haru flinched, the loud noise bad on the headache that was forming up in his noggin. "You heard me," He mumbled, letting his head hang, his bangs covering his eyes. "I want to understand him better. And to do that I need you to have sex with me. I need to know how it feels."

Rin frowned, not sure if he was understanding what Haru was putting on the table well enough, after all. Haruka had been through a lot, though, and it wasn't like he wasn't into guys, so... Rin agreed.

"Lay on the bed," Rin muttered, slowly pushing Haruka back gently as he crawled to straddle the boy. He removed Haru's vest carefully, throwing it to the side.

"Haru, are you sure about this? It won't hurt too badly? You won't regret it?" Rin asked, holding himself above Haruka and staring down at said bandaged boy. Below him, Haru nodded, shutting his eyes as he did so to help relieve the pressure keeping his eyes open put on his swollen, bruised right eye. Rin frowned, his red hues roaming over the blackening skin, as well as the rest of Haru's bruising, cut up face, before he nodded. "Okay," The Prince mumbled quietly, lowering his head down to Haruka's neck. If he was sure...

"Damn, looks like he got you here, too," Rin mumbled, staring with bitter, dark eyes at the bright red bite mark that rested against the skin of Haruka's neck. He reached up, running the pads of his fingers against the mark as well as the edge of his thumb across another, slightly smaller bite wound located at Haru's collarbone, stretched across the boy's clavicle. Haruka winced, but otherwise remained still and quiet, letting Rin do as he wished. _I want to understand,_ He thought to himself, an image of the blonde boy he'd reunited with on not the best of terms coming to mind. _If this is what it takes..._

"Does it look bad?" Haru asked quietly, feeling his body relax slightly as Rin gently kissed at his neck, moving upwards as he trailed kisses along Haru's Adam's apple. He hadn't been given a mirror to look into; he didn't know how badly he may — or may not — have looked. All he knew was almost everything_ hurt_, but hopefully the things he'd heard about sex were true; hopefully it was pleasureable, just enough so that he could forget the events of the night, save for the sacrifice Nagisa had made for him, and the pain that had come with it all.

"Just really red," Rin mumbled in response to Haru's question, the movement of his lips against the skin of the boy's throat causing Haruka to shiver slightly. "I can see Rei cleaned these for you," Rin brushed his fingers gently against the bite marks engraved into Haru's skin once more, "but why didn't he bandage them?" He questioned. Haruka shrugged slightly with his good arm. "He was too concerned with my shoulder," The boy explained. "All the bandages he had on hand went to bandaging it." Rin nodded slightly, slowing withdrawing his fingers from Haruka's wounds. "Oh." He got that.

"Heh, glad he's got his priorites in order," Rin said, planting a kiss on the side of Haruka's neck opposite the man from the alleyway's bite marks. A stab wound _should_ have been considered more of a pressing matter than a few bites, definitely. Rin wasn't sure Haru's shoulder had needed all this much bandaging, however. That is to say, Rei could have stood to have saved some of the bandages for Haru's neck, he personally thought. _Well, whatever._

The Prince pushed these thoughts away and moved his lips against Haru's skin, kissing at it as Haru instinctively squeezed his eyes shut, immediately regretting his actions as a wave of pain crashed against the inside of eyelids. "Rin..." He mumbled as the Prince worked his way down to his collarbone, where said cerise-haired male ran the tip of his nose the length of the bone jutting out from Haru's torso before planting a kiss at the base of the structure. "This isn't what they were doing..." Haru mumbled, finding the sensations Rin was bringing to dance across his skin weird, though not overall unpleasant. The Prince laughed.

"Well, I don't guess so. I want to make sure you have a good first experience with this, though, so can it and let me work, okay?" Rin said, snickering slightly as he pressed another kiss against Haru's skin in the same spot he'd left the last one. Haruka shivered and nodded. "Okay..." He'd let Rin do whatever he thought needed to be done; it wasn't like he knew anything about this sort of thing. Haru had never cared to have sex before.

Rin smiled against Haruka's skin, allowing himself to move down the boy's chest. He kissed his way down to Haru's abs, his hands running up the boy's sides, which Haru didn't react too much to. The touches didn't hurt; the damage to his sides hadn't come in large amounts. The Prince took his time kissing at Haruka's abdomen, lining all of Haruka's muscles with kisses upon kisses upon kisses— with the occasional little suck here and there. Then, once he was ready to get the show on the road, Rin brought his hands together to Haruka's front, one hand sliding to rest on the boy's hip while the other grabbed onto the waistband of Haru's pants, ready to pull them down. That was when the black-haired male made an effort to stop him.

"Rin... W-Wait..." Haruka stuttered from above Rin, causing the male at his waist to look up. "What is it?" Rin asked, sounding concerned. "Change your mind?" Haru shook his head to the best of his ability, his blue eyes open and staring off to the side as he quietly muttered, "Before you do that... don't you think you should give me a kiss first?" Rin felt heat rush to his entire face, as well as the tops of his ears and at least the upper half of his neck.

Oh, so that was what Haru had wanted to stop him for? Even if his face is busted up, that was kind of... cute. Rin snickered, quietly mumbling, "Well, yeah, I guess I can."

That said, the Prince brought himself back up to hover over Haru, bracing his hands against the bed on either side of the boy as he stared down into tired but determined and willing blue orbs before Haru shut his eyes, waiting. Rin took a good look at Haru's face, decided that _no_— the boy _didn't_ currently look like someone he'd usually agree to kiss, but that he would anyway. This was to make Haruka feel better, after all. And besides, it wouldn't have been a lie to say that, before Haru had obtained the black eye and bruises currently blossoming across his lightly tanned skin, Rin had found him somewhat attractive. The boy _did_ have a pretty face.

Letting his thoughts stray away from him, Rin slowly leaned down, turning his head slightly to the right to get at a better angle. The Prince gave a quiet word of warning to Haru as his lips hovered above the boy's, telling him that he was about to do it. Haruka didn't respond, but Rin knew he'd heard; the boy wasn't deaf. And so with the red that had once painted his face and neck faded away, save for a light dusting across the bridge of his nose, the Prince pressed his lips to Haruka's. Haru's left hand curled into the blankets below him, his right trying desperately on his other side to do the same.

Kissing was a lot more pleasant than Haru had ever imagined it to be. Having seen people kiss in the past, he'd always thought it looked too needy, too sloppy for his tastes. And honestly, he didn't know why he'd requested that Rin kiss him just a moment beforehand, but he was glad he had. He felt like he was floating and not in an unpleasant way; almost like he was swimming, even, except the boy really didn't understand, at first, why he was making that sort of connection. It was during the third or fourth kiss Rin had given him that he put two and two together. _He tastes like water._

And the Prince did. Rin tasted just like the water from the Great Well, way back over at the Bahr. Haru had only gotten a small sample of the water the other day — hadn't even meant to swallow any, really, but when a desperate, angry princess had latched herself onto his back, going down with him as he dove, it had been hard_ not_ to hit the water with his mouth open. The male hardly regretted it, however; the water tasted _wonderful._

_A bit different than the water back at the fountain had, though. I wonder what the difference is?_ Haru wondered, his attention only being stolen away as Rin pulled away as he had several times previously, but this time didn't immediately return to give him another kiss. Haruka began to open his eyes, but felt a warm hand placed over them.

"Don't open your eyes," Rin whispered quietly, moving his hand away from Haruka's face as he slowly went back down to the boy's lower half, beginning to tug down Haruka's pants. Oh, so they were finished kissing.

Haru gasped out quietly as Rin pulled down his pants, leaving him totally naked and exposed. The Prince smiled, snickering. "Well, at least the kissing woke you up a little," He noted, causing Haruka to scowl against the wishes of the muscles of his face, which were washed in pain as his face contorted. "Don't comment on it..." Haru mumbled, hearing Rin discard his pants and another article of clothing which, upon opening his left eye slightly, he could see had been the Prince's robe. The article of clothing being tossed aside identified, Haru shut his eye again just as Rin laughed. "Okay, okay, I won't." Haru heaved a quiet sigh. "Good—"

Haruka paused, hissing as Rin slowly took him in hand, beginning to pump him. The boy squeezed his eyes shut tightly, inwardly cursing himself for what seemed like the tenth time since Rin had laid him on his back on the bed. Haru's hands fisted the blankets below him, shaking slightly — his right more so than his left due to the damage his shoulder had taken earlier in the night — as Rin stroked him, his grip tight but not too tight, his strokes short and teasing. Haru moaned.

"Are there any, ah— bruises there?" Haruka asked, referring to his lower half far more than he was his dick; he didn't think there should be, but he wanted to make sure. "Nah," Rin shook his head, grinning as he watched Haru come alive in his grip. The Prince snaked his other hand into his own pants, touching himself. He knew he couldn't expect a virgin like Haru to do it, let alone in the condition the boy was in. "Looks like he stayed loyal to just beating the hell out of your upper half. The pain you feel down here tonight should be pretty moderate; the same pain everyone goes through the first few times around."

Haruka nodded in understanding, having known at least that much about having relations beforehand. The boy grunted as Rin leaned forward, beginning to stick out his tongue as he made his way to Haru's member. That was when, just as the tip of Rin's tongue made contact with the reddening organ, the boy held up his left hand, stopping the Prince. "Rin, no, wait." The cerise-haired male glanced up at Haru, frowning. "What is it now?" He questioned, to which Haru quietly responded, "...Please, put out the flames on the torches. It's embarrassing." Rin's frown deepened and the Prince gave a shaky laugh.

"But if I do that, I won't be able to see," Rin objected, to which Haru scowled, repeating, "_It's embarrassing_!"

The Prince blinked, staring down at Haruka, and laughed. He sat straight up, his lower half straddling Haru's legs as he shook his head, running the hand he hadn't been using to pleasure Haru through his hair. "Man, why are you so shy suddenly?" The Prince shook his head again before smirking down at Haru, pleased to see the boy's blue hues staring back up at him. "I oughta plow you into the bed for trying to boss me around. I'm a Prince, you know. Princes don't take orders from servants."

"But you already are, aren't you?" Haru questioned, to which Rin laughed, his weight beginning to shift as he moved to get off the bed, ready to go and put out those stupid flames to hopefully pacify his partner.

"Yeah, yeah, because you got the hell beat out of you. But just this once. Don't go tellin' anyone, either."

"I won't if you hurry up and get the lights out. I'm tired of looking at those creepy teeth of your's."

"Oi— don't tempt me, Haru! I could still make this hell for you, if I wanted to!"

"Okay, okay. Just turn the lights off, please."

"I'm getting there."

**[CHAPTER TWELVE: "TO UNDERSTAND." END]**

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Okay, so to those of you who thought it sucked, I'm sorry. To those who didn't— don't worry, you'll get the rest of that dreadful sex scene soon; probably in the next chapter as a flashback. I hope it didn't suck too badly. If you've read anything else with an M-rating that I've published, you know I'm not very good at this stuff.

Anyway, I hope it was alright. And I hope today's episode is freaking awesome! (with lots of Rin, because I'm suffering from withdrawal.) Bye guys!


	13. Pleasure

Oh my god, you all don't know how sorry I am for this update coming so late. I've thought of a lot of excuses to dish out, but I think I'll just say this: lazy days and Animal Crossing. I hope you all understand and thank you to those who do. Now, thanks for reading this, please read the warnings section below, and I'm happy to let you all know that this is, I do believe, the longest chapter so far. When I uploaded it without these notes thrown in, it was about 5,100 words. Whoo! Good job!

Also, thanks so much for 165 reviews between the first 12 chapters! You guys all rock!

**Summary: **—

**Warnings: **Bad language, as is per usual with Rin. Sexual content can be considered moderate to heavy.

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Free! _But that's okay!**

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**[CHAPTER THIRTEEN: "PLEASURE'S AFTERMATH."]**

"_Damn_, Haru— I really can't see _shit_."

There was a soft creak as Rin crawled back onto his bed, both of his arms reaching out blindly and fisting into the purple curtains surrounding the bed, drawing them closed. The Prince hovered over Haruka, holding himself up as he leaned down, stealing another kiss from the black-haired servant below him.

Even though the room was dark, save for a small bit of moonlight that shined in through the hole in Rin's ceiling, Haruka didn't find himself taken by surprise at the sudden, warm feel of Rin's lips against his. Instead, he let himself melt into the intimate gesture, blue eyes hidden behind one pale and one bruised eyelid. The shorter male reached up with his good arm, burying his hand in the Prince's fine cerise tresses, pulling at them gently with his fingers.

"That was the point," Haru replied quietly as Rin pulled away, proceeding to grunt softly as the purplish-red haired Prince planted a few kisses along his neck before moving further down his body. "It'd be embarrassing to do this otherwise. Besides, don't you think this way is better? Without being able to see me with your eyes, you can let your hands learn my body in the darkness. They might do a better job." There was a scoff.

"Oh, geez. Come on, Haru— don't go getting all deep and romancey on me now. I can't relate to that sort of stuff," Rin said, pausing briefly as he ventured down Haruka's body to kiss at the boy's hip bone, slowly sinking his teeth into the pale skin stretched across the area. There was a hiss from above him.

"Don't bite so hard. And is "romancey" even a word?" Haruka questioned, grunting slightly before giving a low, somewhat pained moan as Rin bit harder into his skin just to go against his wishes. At eye-level with Haruka's groin once more and actually kind of glad that they were now cloaked in darkness lest his stance of being face-to-dick with Haru might have been awkward, the Prince shrugged.

"I dunno, but if it's not I'll just make it one." A smirk slipped across Rin's face and Haruka scowled into the darkness. "Do you even have that kind of power? Or would that royal demand fall into the King's hands?" Haru questioned, gasping as Rin gave the base of his member something of a rough squeeze.

"Oi, don't talk about my dad. And yeah, I could do it even if I had to wait until I took over as King." Rin frowned. _Maybe,_ He thought, eyebrows furrowing before he leaned forward, taking the tip of Haruka's member into his mouth. Haru moaned.

"That's... Don't you dare bite me," The servant boy managed to breathe out a word of warning. Rin grunted, not responding as he hollowed out his cheeks, running the tip of his tongue against the underside of Haruka's head. _I won't,_ He silently promised. He knew better than to do something like that; he'd tried it out as a playful gesture with past partners. Needless to say, it hadn't been a good idea for someone with teeth as sharp as his.

_Why the hell are they even like that, anyway?_ Rin pondered as he began to suck Haru off, one of his hands resting on the boy's inner thigh while the other stayed just barely wrapped around his shaft. _Otou-san and Okaa-san don't have teeth like these and neither does Gou... Who did I pick these bastards up from?_ Hell, he hadn't the faintest clue. It really bothered him sometimes, being the only person in existence that seemed to have teeth such as his, but as two hands wound themselves into his hair, fisting his cerise locks, the male turned his attention back to the boy he had his mouth on. He could worry over his teeth some other time.

"Mhm, don't be afraid to pull," Rin purred as he pulled off of Haruka's member with a small pop. He stroked the boy a few times, reaching blindly into the darkness towards a small bottle that he'd grabbed when he'd gotten up to put out the flames on the torches previously, as per Haru's request. The Prince felt the hands in his hair tighten, but they didn't pull at his dark tresses. He laughed. _He's not going to, even though I gave him permission, huh?_

Shrugging, Rin pulled his hand away from Haruka, earning a soft mewl of objection from the boy. He laughed once more, sitting up on his knees as he opened the small bottle, pouring some of it's clear, slightly yellow-tinted contents onto his middle and index fingers. The Prince then popped the cap back on the bottle, smiling as he reached back down, lifting up Haruka's right leg, forcing the limb to bend at the knee.

"Hold your other leg up like this," Rin whispered into the dark. Haruka nodded, supposing Rin knew best, and slowly reached down, placing his pale hand on the back of his left thigh. The boy lifted up his leg, pulling it into a position identical to that of his right side. Reaching out and touching the inside of Haru's newly raised leg to make sure it was in the right position since he couldn't really see, Rin grinned.

"Good. Now this'll be a little cold, but don't make too big of a deal out of it, okay?" The Prince instructed, giving Haruka time to mumble a small, _"Uh-huh."_ He then proceeded with his actions, his left hand holding up Haru's right leg while his right wandered down to the boy's entrance, slowly prodding his two slick, oiled fingers against the tight ring of muscle. Above him, Haru gasped. "C-Cold..." The boy mumbled, shivering slightly. Rin snickered.

"Yeah, well, I told you it'd be cold literally two seconds ago. Just relax— this oil is good for dealing with tight things," The red-haired Prince explained, slowly pushing his middle finger into Haruka and causing the boy to gasp while he kept the pad of his index finger braced against the outside of the blue-eyed servant's entrance, ready to move in after it's companion when the time was right and Rin was sure Haru was ready. The Prince moved his middle finger around a little before slowly pushing it further in, deeper and deeper into Haruka until the digit was knuckle-deep inside the boy. Haruka let out a pained whimper, one that could barely be heard in the stillness of the night, the overall silence of the room.

"T-Tight things?" Haruka mumbled, his eyes squeezed shut painfully and his mouth curved drastically downward into a deep frown. He grunted as he felt Rin's finger move and twist inside of him, the digit patting at his inner walls like Rin was seeking something in specific out. Still at his waist, Rin nodded.

"Well, yeah. I mean, I've never had to use it for sex or anything, so don't even _ask_ about anything like that. Sometimes rings and armbands get stuck, though, and this usually helps get them off, so long as I have Gou or Nitori around to help. Gou—_ shit_, Gou thinks it's funny when I can't get a piece of my jewelry off. Her's never get stuck on her." Rin frowned, eyebrows furrowing as he, once again, wondered why he was always being faced with problems that his sister, Gou, was not. Not that he wanted her to have to deal with any shit; he loved his sister to death. It just frustrated him that he was the only one with these sorts of problems. Whose jewelry was constantly getting stuck on them? What— was his skin a super-adhesive?

"You probably need to get them resized or something, then— or get new ones. Can't that Amakata lady you wanted me to go see help with that?" Haru questioned, his face relaxing and smoothening out as Rin withdrew his finger, pulling the digit most of the way out. Rin shrugged. "Maybe. These were my dad's, though, so I don't wanna mess with them. I want them to be the same as when he wore them before he became King."

"Huh, you really admire him, don't you..." Haruka trailed off, his breath hitching and a gasp being torn from his throat as Rin pushed his middle finger back inside him, this time accompanied by his index finger, with a bit of roughness behind the action. Haru winced.

_He doesn't like it when I mention his father... This is the third time he's reacted like that— twice here and once before, I think._ Haruka frowned, resisting the urge to grunt as pain immediately shot across his face. He slowly forced himself to relax once more, letting his face muscles go slack as he tightened his grip on Rin's hair, trying to adjust to the pain he was feeling. _Hurts..._

"Yeah, I do," Rin mumbled, scissoring his fingers inside of Haruka, stretching the boy out. Haruka moaned softly, the pain he was feeling slowly beginning to fade. "It's nice that you do. A-Ah..." Haruka arched his back a bit as Rin took his member back in hand, his fingers working his entrance while his hand stroked him.

Haruka wasn't sure how long they stayed in silence after that, the only sounds shared between them being his soft pants and moans and the slippery, squishing sound of Rin's strokes to his member, which had become slicker and slicker as Haru's essence leaked from his head. The sensations in his lower half felt almost so good as to rival the feelings of pain in his upper half and Haru, after a little while of lying still and letting Rin fiddle around and fondle him, finally decided he wanted to continue on. Little did he know, his permission to continue on was exactly what Rin had been waiting on, why he'd spent time dilly-dallying.

"It's about time!" Rin exclaimed and gave a soft chuckle when Haruka finally expressed his desire to become more intimate and get to the actual sex that they'd agreed to have. He'd gotten tired of waiting; as a perfectly hormonal young adult who'd been sitting and listening to Haruka's moans the last few minutes, he felt like he could hardly wait anymore. His dick was tingling and hot, rubbing against the front of his pants in a way that was less than comfortable. He wanted to get the show on the _road_!

"Kept me waiting a little while, huh?" The Prince commented, pulling his hands away from Haruka and earning a soft sigh from the boy. He pulled down his pants, slipping them off and tossing them to the edge of the bed, where they caused the curtains surrounding them to swish slightly. Rin then made his way back up to Haruka's face, leaning down and softly kissing the boy.

Haruka sighed again, this time into the kiss, and he brought up his arms, ignoring the pain that raising his right arm brought with it, and buried his hands back in Rin's hair, wanting to hang onto the Prince, even if it meant pain. His partner grinned, pulling back. "Sorry," Haruka mumbled.

"It's fine," Rin assured, deciding that, hey— Haruka wasn't used to this, so he probably hadn't gotten the message of _"Tell me when you're ready,"_ when he had tried to get it across. He was a virgin; that couldn't be held against him. "I just feel like my dick's gotta be red as fuck," The male said with a laugh, causing Haruka to mumble another small apology. Rin shook his head, heaving a sigh. _I was joking, you know._ Whatever— Haru didn't seem like one for jokes, anyway, so he probably couldn't have held not getting exactly what he'd meant against him, either. _This guy's gotta be taught not to be such a stick in the mud. Definitely._

"Oi— make sure your leg's stay up, okay? I don't feel like holding them." Haruka nodded, raising his legs back up to where they'd been held previously, but this time kept his hands tangled in Rin's purplish-red locks, unwilling to let go. "Okay," He mumbled quietly, feeling Rin pull back just slightly enough to put a little space between them, but not enough to move his head away; he didn't want Haru ripping his hair out.

The Prince smiled, grabbing his member and lining himself up with Haru's entrance. "Ready?" He questioned. Haruka nodded, his back arching slightly as Rin slowly pushed into him, his hands fisting tightly into his hair. "Ow," The two boys mumbled simultaneously, one because of the literal pain in his ass and the other because of the way Haru was pulling his hair.

"I'm gonna assume you need a minute," Rin mumbled, feeling relief wash over him as Haru realized what he was doing, the boy slowly loosening his grip on the Prince's hair. Haruka nodded, eyes shut, and mumbled a small _"yes."_ Rin nodded. "Okay, just tell me when."

Minutes passed by in silence, neither boy moving or making any noise. Finally, Haruka felt he was ready to continue, and he slowly moved his hips against Rin's, causing the Prince to grunt. He hadn't expected Haru to move first.

"Well, _damn_— wait for me," Rin said with a laugh, slowly allowing himself to lean over Haruka, the boy's hands leaving his hair in favor of falling onto his back, his arms wrapping around the Prince's neck. Haru buried his face into the side of Rin's neck slightly, letting the tip of his nose touch the skin of Rin's throat, but not putting too much pressure against the rest of his face.

Rin slipped a hand underneath Haru, letting it rest at the top of his back, just between his shoulder blades, while the other moved to cup the small of his back. Both feeling like they were finally in something of a correct sort of position, Rin slowly pulled out of Haru, leaving only the tip of himself inside the boy's tight heat. Rin inhaled a small breath, his fingers ghosting up Haru's spine, and he pushed back into the boy.

The mind-numbing pleasure Haru felt almost instantly seemed unreal. The boy's back arched and he cried out, his shoulder hurting at the involuntary movement of his spine. His hips jerked against Rin, who grunted.

"Shit, didn't mean to hit it that early," The Prince mumbled, referring to Haruka's prostate, before he pulled back out and pushed back in, hitting the spot inside Haru that seemed to drive him crazy with pleasure as it was meant to. He set a steady pace, allowing the hand on Haru's back to eventually come around to the boy's front, wrapping around the servant's member and beginning to pump him. Haruka moaned, his mind hazy and his thoughts becoming few and far inbetween with each steady, firm strike Rin gave to that special spot inside him, which he was curious about.

_It feels so good... Why? Is this how it felt for Nagisa? Is this why he was enjoying it so much? It's good..._ Haruka thought, his mind both everywhere and absolutely nowhere all at once. He could hear Rin grunting rather frequently, which lead the boy's thoughts to shift. _Is he feeling good, too? It sounds like it..._ Haru fought off the urge to sigh, feeling like it'd ruin the moment. He felt content, though— despite the pain he felt in both his face and his shoulder, as well as his chest. They were hidden by darkness, left unseen to not only the world, but also each other. The bed's blankets felt soft against his back, Rin's hands were warm against his skin, and the feeling of having a body overtop of him like this made him feel strangely safe, like the world couldn't touch him or do him any harm.

_I haven't felt so safe since I left home,_ Haru realized, the very thought causing the usually blank-faced, emotionally stable boy to wrap his arms tighter around Rin's neck and really bury his face into the side of the Prince's neck, not caring about the pain that came from it or if Rin minded. He wanted this comfort; he wanted to feel it to it's fullest. And Rin didn't mind, he almost felt the same, even— so it was okay. They were okay. For now.

"Haru... I don't wanna come inside you," Rin murmured, his own face buried just as deeply into Haruka's neck as the boy's was into his. "And I don't think you want me to, either. I need to pull out," He explained. Haruka nodded.

"Okay," Haru agreed, not seeing a problem with what Rin was saying, though he did find himself missing the loss of contact between them as he let his grip on Rin loosen, the Prince pulling away from him slightly. Before he knew it, the Prince was slipping out of him and pressing their dicks together, rubbing the two throbbing organs against each other.

Haruka moaned softly, feeling something that he hadn't realized had been building up in his lower stomach beginning to overflow. The sensation was strange and, for a moment, Haru felt scared— but then that built up sensation was releasing and he saw white stars exploding across his vision as he came along with Rin, their essence mixing and mingling together, falling onto Haru's stomach.

Haruka, coming down from the short, temporary moment of being on Cloud Nine he'd just experienced, grunted as Rin fell onto him, resting his head beside the boy's and letting them lay chest-to-chest. Haru winced, feeling pain radiating through his shoulder from the sudden impact of Rin's body falling onto his, but didn't complain. He felt tired now— even moreso than he had previously, before they'd ever began.

Just as the boy felt Rin's warm lips closing over his for something of a last kiss, he felt a darkness even more black and unpredicting than the one they'd just sat for roughly an hour or so in overtake him. That is to say— _sleep_. He let the natural phenomenon take him, not caring where it lead him or for how long it took him. He let himself be at ease, Rin's warm body laying overtop of his, larger and bulkier. Rin's labored breathing echoed in his ears as he welcomed sleep.

When Haruka awoke in the morning, Rin's warmth was absent, as well as the Prince himself. He was laying in bed alone, the white blankets they'd had their intimate moment on much earlier that morning pulled overtop of him and the rich purple curtains surrounding the bed drawn shut. Sunlight much more powerful than the moonlight that had come before it shined in from the small window in the Prince's ceiling, streaming in through the curtains.

Haru tried to shift, to get his arm in a better position, and flinched. Then he heard voices, going still in order to pick up on what they were saying and also not wanting to be heard moving around. He recognized one right away. _Rin?_

"And that's the deal, Ni," The Prince said from outside the curtains that sheltered Haruka, shaking his head as he dropped his hands to the small meal table that he and his assistant sat at currently— as they frequently did. A deep frown dug itself into Nitori's face and the silver-haired boy looked down at the table between them, shaking his head. "That's awful," He mumbled, his hands fisting themselves in his lap, clawing slightly at the cloth of his pants. "Haruka-san shouldn't have had to go through that. Raido..." Nitori repeated the name of the man Rin had just told him about and the Prince leaned forward, halfway across the table.

"You know him, Ni?" Rin asked. Nitori shook his head and the Prince sighed, leaning back and bracing his hands behind himself, holding himself up. He was shirtless, but was wearing a pair of white pants. He felt about ready to crawl back into bed, but he had to get some things taken care of first. Namely, the location and arrest of the palace guard that none of the people he had asked seemed to know a lot about, but all knew of: Raido.

"Well, anyway, I want you to go ask around. Find this guy and tell him I want to see him." Rin opened his eyes, his red hues skimming over Nitori's frail physique. "...Take some guards with you." Like hell this guy was gonna get all violent with Nitori the same way his buddy had gotten rough with Haruka the night before— no way even in the deepest circle of Hell. Across the table, Nitori nodded.

"I will," Rin's silver-haired assistant said, standing from his seat. "I'll do my best to locate him, my Prince. And I'll have some proper medicine brought for Haruka-san. Which room in the servant's quarters is his again?" Nitori wasn't even sure that he'd _ever_ known which room was Haruka's— he'd only been there for a week.

"Oh, nah— don't worry about that. Have it brought here," Rin said with a shake of his head, also standing. Nitori blinked. "What? Here?" Rin nodded, pointing over towards the drawn curtains that enclosed his bed. Nitori's mouth fell open.

"I... You... You—?!" The boy shook his head, fighting the blush that was making it's way onto his cheeks and being poorly defeated. Rin laughed at the boy's response before grunting, Nitori having reached over and popped him on the forearm, an action that was rather rare. Rin blinked, watching the boy as he stepped around the table that they'd previously been seated at, moving closer. He leaned up towards Rin, cupping a hand over the side of his mouth.

"I know this idea is far-fetched, but when you say it like that, it almost sounds like you and him..." Nitori trailed off, his blue eyes saying so much in that moment it wasn't even funny— asking questions and making accusations. Rin nodded, his smile gone from his face. "Had sex?" He finished his assistant's question, nodding once more. Nitori gasped. _"Rin!"_ Another pop to the arm.

"Ow. Stop that, Ni— it actually kind of hurts," Rin said, rubbing at his forearm with his left hand. Nitori leaned further into his personal space, a deep frown causing his face to contort somewhat angrily.

"He was injured and you took advantage of him? Rin, I've kept your record with the prostitutes in town under wraps, but I can't believe you'd do something like this—"

"He asked for it!" Rin snapped, causing Nitori to back off, going quiet. Rin sighed, rubbing the back of his head, his other hand going to his hip. "I promise, he asked for it. Don't sweat the small stuff, Nitori. Just have the medicine for his injuries brought here._ Please_."

Nitori frowned, sighing as he shook his head, blue eyes opening and looking off to the side. "I will," He agreed, "but..." Again, the boy shook his head. Rin frowned. "But what?"

"Haruka-san isn't the same as one of those prostitutes— you _paid_ to have relations with in town. He's a servant here in the palace. And if anyone found out that this happened, you could both be in big trouble. And I don't want that to happen," Nitori mumbled.

"So, don't tell. Easy solution." Rin turned away from Nitori, going over to his desk and picking up a small comb located on it's edge, beginning to pull it through his cerise locks. He heard Nitori whimper. "I won't, but..." Nitori shook his head and forced a smile onto his face, looking at the Prince's back.

"Anyway, I promise I'll have medicine brought here for Haruka-san _and_ I'll find that Raido man for you! Please, leave it to me!" That said, Nitori dismissed himself, feeling that the air had gotten unusually awkward, and slipped out Rin's bedroom door, shutting it behind him. Once he was gone, Rin sighed.

"I get what you're saying, Ni," The Prince mumbled under his breath. Even if Nitori didn't tell anyone, if the news of what had happened between Haru and himself the night before _did_ manage to get out, they'd both be in deep shit. _Haru especially, probably. I don't want that to happen, because I won't be able to override Otou-san's rule if he decides to punish Haru, but we've already done it and..._ "Fuck," Rin cursed aloud, shaking his head. Shit, they'd fucked up.

Just then there was a grunt from behind the curtains over at his bed, followed by a faint, slightly pained groan. Rin frowned, looking over in the direction of the noise. Was Haruka up?

"Haru, you awake?" Rin called, moving over towards his bed. He pulled back the curtains slightly, peeking in to find Haruka spawled out awkwardly, his hurt arm pushed out far away from the rest of his body, laying seemingly uncomfortably on the bed. The Prince laughed as Haruka glared at him, his right eye officially black, and he slowly crawled onto the bed, letting the curtains fall shut behind him.

"Here, lemme help you out," Rin said, crawling up to be on Haruka's level and slowly reaching for the boy's arm, shifting it back into a comfortable position. Haruka grunted, hissing slightly, but quietly mumbled a small "thanks" all the same, shutting his eyes as Rin slowly settled beside him on the bed, laying on his stomach and hugging one of the bed's many pillows, resting his head upon it.

"How do you feel?" Rin asked, glancing over at Haruka. "Oh, and good morning, by the way. That's a killer black eye you've got there." Haruka scowled, opening his eyes to glare at Rin to the best of his ability. "I've felt better," He said with a rough edge, causing the Prince to laugh. "I can imagine. Did you sleep okay, though?" Rin asked, smiling as Haruka nodded. He returned the nod. "That's good." And then, they fell into silence.

The morning was peaceful, for sure. It wasn't ridiculously hot in the room, the blankets were soft, and neither of them was alone. Haruka still felt a small ball of anxiety forming in his stomach, however. He'd heard something he wasn't sure he had wanted to— even though Nitori had been doing his best to talk quietly to the Prince previously.

"Rin... Was what we did last night... taboo?" Haruka asked, catching the Prince by surprise. Rin opened his eyes, blinking, before he sighed. So he'd heard, huh? "Kind of," The Prince mumbled, staring straight ahead, his chin pressed against the dark gray pillow he had his head laid upon. "Serious taboo?" Haruka questioned. Rin shrugged. "Depends on who you ask."

"Nitori sounded like he considered it pretty serious," Haruka mumbled, looking away. Rin sighed, slightly agitated. "Just drop it, okay? We did it once and that's gonna be it, right?" Rin said, to which Haruka nodded, supposing so. "Alright— so _you_ won't say anything,_ I_ won't say anything, and I promise Nitori_ sure as hell_ won't say anything. No one will find out," Rin said with an irritated tone, to which Haru frowned.

"So we're just going to forget it ever happened?" Haruka questioned, wondering if they could just do that. Rin nodded. "Exactly. We'll put it behind us, leave it in the past. You'll go back to stopping by and bathing me in the morning and then you'll go get us some breakfast, assuming you decide to eat and you're not just picking something up for me, then..."

"But I won't be doing that," Haruka mumbled as he looked over towards Rin, effectively cutting the Prince off. The red-haired royal blinked, looking to the boy laying beside him. "What?" He questioned. Haruka's left eyebrow furrowed, his right unable to follow suit due to the swelling in that area.

"I was only filling in for Nitori on your's and the Queen's orders, remember? My three days are up," Haruka stated and Rin felt something inside him sink as the boy's words and realization hit him square in the face. That was right— Haru's punishment for pissing off one of the princesses at his bridal selection was over; he didn't have a reason to be there with him anymore.

_Of course. But I..._ Rin frowned. He didn't want to see Haruka go; having someone aside from Nitori around all the time had been a nice change. Not that he was putting Nitori down or anything— it was just nice to have someone new around, that was all. _And now he'll be gone._

"O-Of course, dumbass— duh! I was just making sure _you_ realized. Don't want you getting up any time now and running my bath water or anything," Rin said and laughed, the false laughter filling the air just briefly before it died away, leaving them in a tense, awkward silence that even Haruka didn't find comfortable and felt he had to try and break after it lasted for several long minutes.

"...Don't tell me you forgot," Haru mumbled, glancing over at the Prince, whose face flushed. Rin looked away, knowing he could've defended himself against Haru's dull accusation, denied what the boy was saying, but he wasn't sure he wanted to. So he huffed and shrugged his shoulders, quietly murmuring, "I've gotten so used to you being around, I might have." Haruka raised an eyebrow. "It was only three days."

"Yeah, but—!" Rin went on the alert, ready to defend himself as he looked away. "But it felt like you... belonged here, almost." Rin said, face slightly red at his confession. _Shit, now he'll think I'm a pansy or something,_ The Prince inwardly worried, cursing himself and his brutal honesty. But then there was a soft creak as Haruka shifted and suddenly warm, slightly-chapped lips were placing a kiss on Rin's bare shoulder and he turned his head back towards Haruka, blinking. The boy just shut his eyes, quietly mumbling, "I get what you mean, kind of. I haven't felt this at home since I left my own."

Rin's eyebrows raised and he slowly sucked in a deep breath, the angry red color that had plagued his cheeks fading away as he realized he and Haruka were on the same wavelength, the same page. The Prince turned his head to fully face Haru, allowing himself to relax against the pillow. _So he feels like he should be here, too, huh?_

Yes, they definitely had a mutual agreement. They didn't need to become lovers or anything, because that could get them into some serious trouble, but they wanted to be around each other, for sure. Something had connected them; a link had been built between the two of them— not quite a bond, but the beginnings of one. What had attached them to each other was beyond their comprehension, something neither of them was sure of, but both were curious about. Something they would both come to understand with time.

"So what are we going to do? There are certain rules, and..." Rin murmured quietly and shook his head, taking note of a bruise on Haruka's forehead he hadn't noticed the night before. Haruka sighed.

"You're the Prince— you tell me."

**[CHAPTER THIRTEEN: "PLEASURE'S AFTERMATH." END]**

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I'm sorry if this chapter was shit; I tried to make sure it wasn't and this week has just been more stressful than most. I can't even tell you.

Anyway, thanks for reading guys, and please look forward to the next update, which should be up in the next few days! Also, if you've read the first chapters of _"Hours Passing Like Minutes" _and/or _"Nagisa's Reward System" _please know that I am making it my goal to _finally _update both before September 1st! This is a sworn PuddinPie promise!

By the way, I'm sorry if I ended this chapter in a sucky way. I promise I'll be explaining the rules Rin talking about just now soon!

Meanwhile... I am still not happy with Rin. I'm not gonna say I hate him, but after last week, _I am not happy with you Rin Matsuoka._

Anyway, bye! PuddinPie out!


	14. The Morning After

Hey everyone! What's up? Well, here's TKS Chapter 14. The first thirteen chapters have gotten 178 reviews between them all and, for someone like me, that totally rocks! Thank you to all those of you who take the time to read and review, and to everyone else who has favorite and/or followed this story! I hope you'll continue to enjoy it as more and more chapters come out!

So there is one thing I want to mention before any of you get started reading: this chapter, like Chapter 4, _does _stray away from Haru and the main pairing of the fic. You'll see who this one is about. I know some people get mad when the focus isn't solely on the main pairing, but really I'd rather do it this way. The world doesn't revolve around RinHaru, although I will admit mine pretty much does. And Ereri, yum~ Holy hell, no. SnK Episode 21. NO. Ugh, sorry let's not talk about that.

Anyway, I promise the next chap will go back to the main pairing a little bit more and it's actually going to be _Rin-centric._ So, uh, look forward to it?

Also, to anyone who might be interested in reading a mermaid!au written by me— please know I'll be publishing the first chap on 09/05. Still untitled. K, thanks guys!

**Summary: **—

**Warnings: **Sexual content is briefly implied.

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Free! _If I did it would release daily, not weekly. And we'd follow the boys for the rest of their lives.**

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**[CHAPTER FOURTEEN: "THE MORNING AFTER."]**

_Mhmm. What's going on? Where am I?_

Tired pink eyes opened themselves up to world, squinting in the sunlight. Nagisa looked at the ceiling and blinked a few times before daring to turn his head to the left, looking over towards the open window beside him.

_It's bright outside today,_ The blonde thought, trying to get his bearings, before a small squeak on his other side caught his attention, followed by hushed whispers.

"He's awake! What do we do? Go get Onii-chan?" One little voice asked the other. Nagisa turned his head to the right, blinking as two young children came into view.

"Well,_ duh!_ He told us to come get him whenever he woke up— what do you _think_ that means, Ren?" The little girl asked, causing the boy — who appeared to be her brother — to frown. The little brunette reached up, rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah, okay, I know— but you don't have to be so mean about it," The little boy — _Ren, was it?_ — said, turning his attention away from his sister and to the blonde stranger laying before them. Beside him, Ran followed his lead, eyeing Nagisa before, with a soft blush on the apples of her cheeks, she took her brother by the hand, pulling him over towards the door. "Come on," She said as they went, "Onii-chan's not gonna get himself." Ran pulled Ren out of the room, letting the thin wooden door shut behind them. Nagisa stared over at the door for a good few seconds before finally tearing his pink hues away.

He didn't sit up — it felt right to just wait right where he was for the big brother that was supposed to be coming to see him — but Nagisa did take the chance to glance around the room, hoping to be able to recognize his surroundings. He didn't. The floors were wooden and so were the walls, the only pieces of furniture in the room being the bed he was laying on — which was actually pretty comfortable — and a small table by the door, which had a vase filled with some sort of plant resting on top of it. Nagisa eyed the spiky, omnious looking plant and frowned, wondering why someone would grow such a thing.

And then the door beside the table opened back up and a tall brunette entered into the room, his eyebrows raised and the expression on his face clearly giving away just how concerned he was. _For me?_ Nagisa wondered, watching as the male made his way further into the room, stopping at his bedside and stooping down beside him. He had some of the kindest, prettiest eyes Nagisa had ever seen— green and pure, free from all the selfish desires and greedy minds held further within the city, around where he usually hung out. Nagisa felt a small tickle in his stomach.

"Hello," The taller, surely-a-little-older male beside Nagisa smiled, his hands resting on the edge of the bed. "Are you okay? Did you sleep well?" The olive-haired male's face was soft, peaceful— as was his voice.

"Ah, I—" Nagisa moved to sit up, to ask where he was and who the male was and all other sorts of questions, but he could only flinch instead, a hand moving to grip his side as pain prickled across his skin seemingly everywhere. Beside him, the eldest son of the owner of the Firdous Flower Shop frowned, quickly snapping to attention. Makoto placed his hands on Nagisa — one on the boy's chest and the other on his back — and eased him back into a laying position. Nagisa let himself be moved back into his previous position, not sure he had the willpower to object at the moment— and not quite sure why it was he felt that he didn't.

"Hey, don't try to sit up any, okay? You're pretty beaten up." Makoto brought his hands back from Nagisa, effectively catching the blonde off guard with his statement. _Beaten up?_ Nagisa repeated, a deep frown settled into his face. The blonde titled his head slightly, a bit surprised to find his chest and arms bare, but much more surprised to find his skin littered with deep purple and light blue bruises. The male before him offered a smile, trying to silently coax the blonde into smiling, as well.

"I'm Makoto— I'm the eldest son of Tachibana-san, the owner of the flower shop here in town. I found you early this morning out by our shop's door— tell me, are you alright? Can you remember what happpened to you?" Makoto's worried expression was a serious one and Nagisa looked away, shifting a bit under the covers. He recognized the male now that he knew he was connected to the flower shop, or well— he'd seen Tachibana-san around a few times._ I can trust these people,_ Nagisa thought. "Ah..."

Nagisa paused, racking his brain for an answer. What_ had_ happened? _Raido and one of his friends pulled me into an alleyway... Rai was asking for sex... I didn't wanna do it, but... _ Haruka flashed through the blonde's mind and Nagisa went rigid. _Haru-chan— I got Haru-chan hurt! That other guy was beating him up and I offered up everything I had to get him to stop. I even let them share my body... _ Nagisa winced, suddenly becoming more and more aware of the stinging pain pressing against his butt, centered around his entrance. That really_ hurt._

"Hey, what's wrong? Did you remember something?" Makoto asked from beside Nagisa, noting how tense the boy had gotten. The blonde looked over at Makoto and laughed falsely, shaking his head a little. "Oh, no— I don't remember how I got like this, I just know it hurts."

"I bet—" Makoto smiled sympathetically before his hands shot forward, back to trying to gently coax Nagisa back down onto the bed as the short blonde sat up, this time succedding in sitting up straight. The pain in his backside intensified and Nagisa winced. Makoto frowned.

"Hey— what do you think you're doing? I told you to stay laying down, okay? You're hurt!" Makoto exclaimed in high objection to the blonde's movements, his palms pressing against Nagisa's bare chest as he tried to push the boy gently back down. Nagisa frowned and held his ground, refusing to allow himself to be moved this time around and shaking his head.

"I need to be getting on home," Nagisa said, slowly pushing the blankets draped over him away and carefully swinging his legs over the side of the bed, causing Makoto to have to move back to avoid getting kicked. Nagisa blinked, eyeing the white pants he was dressed in. _ These aren't mine... Where are my clothes? Was I not wearing any when I was found? _ A shiver surged through Nagisa's body— now_ that_ he really didn't know.

"Thank you very much for helping me. I promise I'll come back and repay you, but I need to get going," Nagisa said as he stood up, his legs slightly wobbly at first. Makoto stood off to the side, frowning. He couldn't just let Nagisa go off alone— his kind heart wouldn't allow it. And so he spoke up, asking Nagisa where his home was and offering to take him there if he was really so keen on leaving. Nagisa flinched and frowned.

"Ah, no— that's okay, really." Nagisa stretched out his limbs a bit before turning around. He picked the pillow he'd been resting his head on just previously up off the bed, tucking it under his arm as he began to move the covers around, pulling them up to the top of the bed and smoothening them out, making the bed back up. It was the least he could do for the time being; he really would come back and pay his thanks to Makoto and his family— his words had been genuine. And Makoto knew this, could sense it by the tone Nagisa's voice had held, but his frown still grew sharper, digging ever-deeper into his very being.

"Please," Makoto said, watching Nagisa make their guest bed. "let me take you home. I just want to make sure you get back together with your family and they know you're alright."

He couldn't miss the way the blonde's actions ceased, his fingers going tight around the edges of the pillow under his arm just as he'd reached to fix it back in place on the bed, and suddenly Makoto regretted asking.

"I don't have a family," Nagisa murmured, his head of blonde, curly hair posed to stare straight ahead, his pink hues gazing out the window across the bed from him. Makoto tensed._ I shouldn't have asked,_ He scolded himself.

An awkward, tense silence settled between the two just as a feminine figure with a motherly smile appeared in the doorway. Makoto's mother smiled in at the two boys, her hand resting against the open door.

"Ah, so our guest is awake, after all," The woman said as she entered into the room, moving past her son and taking the pillow in Nagisa's hands away. The blonde blinked and he and the woman's eldest son watched on as she fluffed the pillow a bit before laying it down at the head of the bed, smoothening out it's surface. "How are you feeling, dear? Did you sleep well?" She asked Nagisa as she fixed one of the corners of the pillow before pulling back, turning her soft green gaze — which was a bit lighter but just as kind as Makoto's — to Nagisa and her son. Nagisa shuffled his bare, dirty feet a little.

"Yes, I did. Thank you for your kindness and hospitality, but I think I should take my leave now," Nagisa said quietly, feeling rather strange under the older woman's gaze. She smiled just as Makoto frowned, the olive-haired young adult inwardly wondering if Nagisa thought his mother would let him off the hook that easily. He wasn't surprised in the slightest when she didn't.

"Before breakfast? I don't think so," Makoto's mother said with a laugh, refusing to allow Nagisa to leave. The blonde boy might've frowned and refused, as he had when Makoto had asked him to reconsider leaving and stay, but something about the dark green-haired woman drew him in, anchoring him to her warm smile. _She's a mother,_ Nagisa thought, a soft pink blush springing into his cheeks. _And she's asking me to stay for breakfast._

"O-Oh, well, no... I guess I can't deny your kindness. I'll stay— b-but only for breakfast! Then I definitely, positively, absolutely have to go!" Nagisa insisted. Makoto's mother laughed and nodded while her son stared on in awe as the green-haired woman began to usher Nagisa out of the room, talking to him as she lead him a few rooms over and into the kitchen. Makoto stood still, blinking. _Why didn't he agree to stay when I asked? _ He wondered, not sure if he was supposed to feel left out or insulted or _what._ Needless to say, the olive-haired male soon turned towards the door, exiting out of the room and making his own way to the kitchen.

Minutes later, Nagisa found himself sitting at the kitchen table, surrounded by four green and/or brown-haired members of one big, happy family— perhaps the happiest he had ever seen. The short little blonde sat between the two children that had gossiped and argued over him upon his awakening just a little while before, who he had just been informed were actual twins by Makoto, though fraternal.

"I'm the oldest," Ran said as she giggled, seated to Nagisa's right. The light blush that had graced the girl's small face last the blonde had seen her was gone, in it's place just a big, happy smile. On his other side, Ren whined. "That doesn't make you any better!" The little brunette argued, causing his sister to frown, arguing back, _"Does too!"_

Before Nagisa knew it, the two children were bickering back and forth and across the table Makoto and his father were shooting apologetic looks and sympathetic smiles his way, like they'd expected the twin's argument. Nagisa sat as still as possible, even as Ren reached around him, attempting rather weak-heartedly to throw a small punch his sister's way. Ran gasped, immediately going on about how he wasn't supposed to hit girls and how she was going to tell, even though their father was right in front of them, watching the scene with an amused smile.

For a second Nagisa was afraid that he would never be rescued, but thankfully the woman of the household swooped in just then, coming up behind him with a white garment in her hands.

"Here you go, dear," Makoto's mother said, holding a white shirt over Nagisa's head. The blonde blinked and, as the woman began pressing the garment over his head, he lifted his arms to help her, allowing the green-haired woman to slip the shirt onto his thin form. He mumbled a quiet word of thanks as she rested her hands on his shoulders just briefly before turning away, moving over to a small woodstove located on the opposite side of the room. "Who's ready for some breakfast?" She exclaimed, inviting everyone in the room to pipe up, eagerly saying, _ "Me!"_

Nagisa smiled as Makoto's mother began to pass out the food, going to everyone's plate and plopping down a variety of different things— pieces of bread, small cuts of ham, and pieces of sausage. He was really having breakfast with a real-live family. _I can't believe it, _ The blonde boy thought, saying thank you as some food was placed onto his plate. He immediately began to eat, finding himself slowly relaxing, becoming content with his surroundings as he and the others around him ate, the twins still arguing back and forth — not that he minded much, anymore. With the way they were shoveling all the food off their plates and into their mouths, they hardly had much time to reach around Nagisa to physically mess with each other, much to the blonde's relief.

The togetherness; the family atmosphere. Being seated at a table with other people, enjoying each other's company and united as one happy little front— it felt nice, even if he was a bit of an outsider looking in. _This is what a family is like,_ Nagisa thought, unable to wipe the ever-persistent smile from his face. _ Wow, I wish I could've had a life like this. _ He watched the two adults at the table speak to each other, laughing and having a merry old time, and Nagisa felt his heart sink a little, his mind going back to his current career and what exactly it was he did for a living. _I'll never even have a family of my own, with the way things are going. No one would want to marry a prostitute. _ Nagisa lowered his head, feeling a little discouraged.

"Ah, Nagi-chan, what's wrong?" Ren piped up from beside Nagisa, catching his as well as everyone else's attention. All eyes turned to look at the blonde and he flushed, giving an innocent, nervous little laugh. "It's nothing."

"Homesick?" Makoto's father asked from across the table and Nagisa tensed, his hands suddenly away from the food on his plate — what little was left of it — and buried in his lap, clutching and fisting at his pants. "Ah, not quite..." Nagisa mumbled, face flushing as he looked away. The man seated across the table from him frowned. "Where do you live, might I ask? Where is your family? There are very few people with golden hair here— where are your origins?" The man never picked up on how awkward and uncomfortable he was making Nagisa feel with his questioning, which was a wonder in and of itself. Nagisa wished he would.

"A-Ah, Otou-san..." Makoto spoke up, lifting up a hand as the corner of his mouth twitched. I forgot to tell him not to ask. I knew he would... Makoto scolded himself for forgetting. His mother laughed.

"Come now, dear— he doesn't have to go through an interrogation. He's just a little out of place, that's all. Right, hon?" Makoto's mother looked to Nagisa and gave him that award-winning smile all over again. He felt something in his stomach flutter as he nodded, heat rising to his cheeks. _She has such a bright and warm smile... _ Nagisa thought in reference of the woman, his gaze softening as his heart sank a little deeper in his chest. _ Would my Okaa-san have smiled at me like that, too— I wonder? _ Tears pricked at Nagisa's eyes and he blinked them back quickly. _I'll never know..._

"Hm... So you have nowhere to go then, do you?" Makoto's father held his hand to his chin, appearing to be thinking. The entire table went even quieter than before and rather still— including the twins. Their mother's face flushed. "Dear!" The woman screeched, unable to believe her husband had asked such a thing so bluntly. He looked to her and blinked, lowering his hand a bit. "What? I was going to ask if he wanted to stay here."

A small roar of applause broke out on Nagisa's side of the table, which caused the blonde — as well as everyone else at the table — to blink. The twins were clapping loudly, all the food gone from their plates and some of it's remnants still resting around the corners of their mouths. Nagisa frowned, far less than happy to see that the twins seemed to agree with what their father was saying.

"No, I couldn't... Thank you, though..." Nagisa quietly refused the offer, causing the twins to groan and whine loudly. "But you have to!" Ren exclaimed, Ran backing him up with, "I want a golden-haired older brother!"

Nagisa tried to back away from the twins, finding them very overwhelming, but found that he couldn't go very far in his current position. Just as they were becoming a little too much for him to handle without crying out for help, there was a loud clap. The blonde as well as the twins looked across the table to find the mother of the house standing up, her hands on her hips and a very stern look gracing her usually smiling, happy face.

"Ren, Ran— stop it. If he doesn't want to stay with us, he doesn't want to stay with us. The two of you bothering him about it will only make him want to leave more, do you understand?" The woman said. Her twins nodded, frowning as they quietly apologized. Nagisa blinked and looked at the twins before looking back to their mother. He jumped. She's already smiling again— even so soon after scolding them! How fast! Nagisa shivered.

"Ah, that reminds me!" The green-haired woman remained standing after scolding her two youngest children, stepping away from the table and heading for the kitchen door. She turned back towards the table, smiling. "Makoto, when you finish eating, do you think you can deliver some flowers to the palace for me? I received a message from the Queen earlier this morning asking if I could throw something together for the King and have it delivered— it seems he isn't doing too well."

"Ah, okay, Okaa-san. I'll go right away," Makoto wholeheartedly agreed, excusing himself as he stood from the table. Nagisa watched the male stand and felt something in his become alive, going alert. He stood, as well.

"Um, can I tag along? To the palace with you, I mean," Nagisa shuffled his feet a little and Makoto blinked. The olive-haired male exchanged a look with his mother before he turned back towards Nagisa and they both smiled. "Sure, come with me." Makoto waved his hand, inviting the blonde to follow him and his mother outside and over to the flower shop, then to go with him to the palace.

Nagisa quietly excused himself, thanking Makoto's father for his hospitality and bidding farewell to the twins, who saw him off happily. Nagisa all but ran for the kitchen door, going right out into the sunlight as he moved to quickly follow behind Makoto and his mother. It was then that some of his memories from earlier that morning came flooding back— after his session with Raido and Tsu, but before he'd ever woken up.

_I went looking for you, Haru-chan. I wanted to make sure you were safe, especially after what all happened to you because of me— but I never found you. You're at the palace, right, Haru-chan? You're a servant there and you made it back safely last night after we left, right? Right?_

His thoughts frantic and feet rushing to get him where he was going, Nagisa knew he could only hope.

_Please, Haru-chan. Please be okay. I need to make you understand._

**[CHAPTER FOURTEEN: "THE MORNING AFTER." END]**

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So, come on— this wasn't that bad at all, right? Please agree, because I had some serious fun writing this. I didn't plan on enjoying writing Nagisa so much.

Anyway, look forward to the next chapter update, guys! Thanks for reading this one and Episode 9 is in just three and a half days! We're halfway there!

And yes, I am living on a prayer... Lol I'm just being stupid. PuddinPie out.


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